AP PSYCHOLOGY (All Sets Combined)

This should be all of the terms, ideas, ideations.. etc etc.
Based mainly on Myers Psychology 8th Edition.

STUDY

PLAY

obedience to authority

-Studies of obedience by Stanley Milgram. Milgram told participants they would be participating in a study of the effects of punishment on learning. Their task was to administer electric shock to a "learner," but in reality, the "learner" was a confederate. Found that 65% of participants could be coaxed to deliver every level of shock-Milgram may have found high obedience because his participants were volunteers-Raised ethical issues. To ensure that there are no long-lasting effects, participants were debriefed

Sexology

The scientific study of sex, especially of sexual dysfunctions.

Philip Zimbardo

Conducted the famous Stanford Prison experiment. It was conducted to study the power of social roles to influence people's behavior. It proved people's behavior depends to a large extent on the roles that are asked to play

mere exposure

the phenomenon by which the greater the exposure we have to a given stimulus, the more we like it

suicidal ideation

Thoughts of hurting or killing oneself. Has thoughts of hurting or killing self, but may or may not be planning to act on these thoughts. (Aaron Beck)

double slit experiment

Demonstrates the inseperability of the wave and particle natures of light. It proved how waves diffract around an object, and through destructive and constructive interference create black and white patterns of light. Black being the destructive interference and the more bright the whites are the more constructive interference there was. (Thomas Young)

inferiority complex

Adler's conception of a basic feeling of inadequacy stemming from childhood experiences, a sense of personal inferiority arising from CONFLICT between the desire to be noticed and the fear of being humiliated

Alfred Adler

Neo-Freudian who thought social tensions were more important than sexual tensions in the development of personality, Developed the inferiority inferiority/ superiority complexes. He would have said that people developed their personalitys because they didn't want to be inferior. Actually excluded from the Vienna School of thought by Freud for this.

Mary Ainsworth

A developmental psychologist who compared effects of maternal separation, and devised patterns of attachment; Used "The Strange Situation"-observation of parent/child attachment and vivided the attachments into 3 broad categories (Secure 66%, Avoidant 22%, and Anxious/Ambivalent/Resistant 11%)

The strange situation

An observational measure of infant attachment that requires the infant to move through a series of introducions, separations, and reunions with the caregiver and an adult stranger in a prescribed order used by Mary Ainsworth. Also called the STRANGER PARADIGM.

Avoidant attachments

A form of attachment that is the 2nd most common (22%) according to Mary Ainsworth, where infants may resist being held by the parents and will explore the novel environment. They do not go to the parents for comfort when they return after an absence

Secure attachments

A from of attachment that is the most common(66%) according to Mary Ainsworth, where a child displays confidence when the parent is present, shows mild distress when the parent leaves, and quickly reestablishes contact when the parent returns good balance between exploration and attachment

Resistant attachments

A form of attachment pattern that is the LEAST prevalent(11%) according to Mary Ainsworth characterizing infants who remain close to the parent and fail to explore before separation, are usually distressed when the parent leaves, and combine clinginess with angry, resistive behavior when the parent returns.

Noam Chomsky

United States linguist whose theory of generative grammar redefined the field of linguistics , language development; he also disagreed with Skinner about language acquisition, stated there is an infinite # of sentences in a language, and humans have an INBORN native ability to develop language, children can deduce the structure of their native languages from "mere exposure". Supporting evidence from the mistakes children do, and do not make, in lang acq process, also there is a critical-period hypothesis for language acquisition.

Solomon Asch

A social psychologist that studied conformity; showed that social pressure can make a person say something that is obviously incorrect ; in a famous study(line length study) in which participants were shown cards with lines of different lengths and were asked to say which line matched the line on the first card in length, even when people knew that it was wrong they were more likely to pick it if another person said it was right. Also did the Impression Formation Study

Impression Formation Study

An experiment by the social psychologist Solomon Asch where he determined that describing a professor as "warm" or "cold" significantly affected people's perceptions.

Impression Formation

The process by which a person uses behavior and appearance of others to form attitudes about them.

Albert Bandura

A behavioral psychologist who is famous for work in observational or social learning. Stated that people profit from the mistakes/successes of others., He also believed that personlaity is not just acquired through direct reinforcement but also is a result of observational learning. Conducted the famed Bobo doll Experiment

Bobo doll Experiment

An experiment that was conducted by Albert Bandura in the 1940s, 1st group of kids were placed in room with bobo doll and hammer, nothing happened; second group show movie where adult hits bag with hammer and the kids followed suit when placed with bag and hammer; people's behavior can become more violent as a result of violent media.

Philip Bard

A very prominent American psychologist who developed an alternative arousal theory with Cannon bard, known as the Cannon-Bard theory . Was also the chairman of the APA during WW2.

Cannon-Bard theory

The theory that an emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers physiological responses and the subjective experience of emotion, especially in the autonomic nervous system and emotional experience in the brain

Therapy that teaches people new, more adaptive ways of thinking and acting; based on the assumption that thoughts intervene between events and our emotional reactions.

Alfred Binet

The indvidual that published the first measure of intelligence(based on "mental age") in 1905. The purpose of his intelligence test was to correctly place students on academic tracks in the French([specifically Parisan) school system.

Hermann Ebbinghaus

German psychologist who conducted the first extensive experiments on memory, used nonsense syllables and recorded how many times he had to study a list to remember it well, from this he was able to develop his "forgetting curve"

conformity

adjusting one's behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard.

Ebbinghaus's Forgetting Curve

Shows that we lose 2/3 of information in first hour of learning; rate of forgetting levels off after a few days. , Meaningless material decays rapidly, then reaches a plateau, after which little is forgotten. (Ebbinghaus), hegave himself lots of material to study went over 14,000 practice repetitions to memorize 420 nonsense syllables and tested his memory at different time intervals to create this which plots forgetting as a function of time.

Albert Ellis

An early psychoanalyst and a pioneer in Rational-Emotive Therapy (RET), focuses on altering client's patterns of irrational thinking to reduce maladaptive behavior and emotions

Rational Emotive Therapy

A Cognitive Therapy based on Albert Ellis' theory that cognitions control our emotions and behaviors; therefore, changing the way we think about things will affect the way we feel and the way we behave., The therapist ACTIVELY challenges the patient's irrational beliefs.

Systematic desensitization

A type of counterconditioning that associates a pleasant relaxed state with gradually increasing anxiety-triggering stimuli. Commonly used to treat phobias. (Joseph Wolpe)

ABC model

Demonstrates how negative, irrational beliefs can create stress and lead to unwanted consequencesA - Activating EventB - BeliefC - ConsequencesUsed in the field of Cognitive Therapy by (Ellis , Beck)

Joseph Wolpe

Used classical conditioning theory in psychotherapy and introduced Systematic Desensitatization and concepts of reciprocal inhibition which he applied to reduce anxiety. In treatment he paired relaxation with an anxiety -provoking stimulus until the stimulus no longer produced anxiety.

reciprocal inhibition

The presence of one emotional state can inhibit the occurrence of another, such as joy prevent fear or anxiety inhibiting pleasure. (Wolpe - mainly)

Classical Conditioning

a type of learning in which an organism comes to associate stimuli. A neutral stimulus that signals an unconditioned stimulus (US) begins to produce a response that anticipates and prepares for the unconditioned stimulus. Also called Pavlovian or respondent conditioning.

Anna Freud

Freud's daughter, his favorite daughter, she became a psychoanalysis following the footsteps of her father, Focused on the ego's ability to adapt and function; more focus on normal behavior than on pathological behavior, described ten different defense mechanisms by the ego to defend against anxiety and also, felt that you couldn't analyze children until they were mature enough to form a transference, disagreed with her father about woman (Neo-Freudian)

transference

In psychoanalysis, the process whereby emotions are passed on or displaced from one person to another

Erik Erikson

Neo- Freudian who proposed that as humans develop, they have psycho-social tasks that, if completed, lead to healthy development. , People evolve through 8 STAGES of personality development over the life span. Each stage marked by psychological crisis that involves confronting "who am I". Also described "basic trust" and also worked with Anna Freud( Freud's daughter)

Basic Trust

According to Erik Erikson, a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy; said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers

John Garcia

His experiments in injecting animals with drugs that made them nauseous after feeding them a certain food helped to establish the idea that organisms learn best behaviors that affect survival., Researched taste aversion. Showed that when rats ate a novel substance before being nauseated by a drug or radiation, they developed a conditioned taste aversion for the substance. Also showed that taste preferences were established by biological predispositions.

Taste Aversion

A type of classical conditioning in which a previously desirable or neutral food comes to be perceived as repugnant because it is associated with negative stimulation (John Garcia).

Howard Gardner

Laid out the theory of multiple intelligences (MI) in his book Frames of Mind. Claimed that pencil and paper IQ tests do not capture the full range of human intelligences, and that we all have individual profiles of strengths and weaknesses across multiple intelligence dimensions. He identified at least eight types of intelligences: linguistic, logical/mathematical, bodily/kinesthetic, musical, spatial (visual), interpersonal (the ability to understand others), intrapersonal (the ability to understand oneself), and naturalist (the ability to recognize fine distinctions and patterns in the natural world)

Frames of Mind

types of intelligence according to Gardner

Theory of multiple intelligences

Gardner's theory, which proposes at least 8 independent intelligences on the basis of distinct sets of processing operations that permit individuals to engage in a wide range of culturally valued activities

Garcia Effect

Named after researcher John Garcia, it is basically food aversion that occurs when people attribute illness to a particular food.

Harry Harlow

Psychologist who researched the relationship of body contact and nourishment to attachment, using Rhesus monkeys and artificial mothers. Wire Mother vs. Cloth mother)> Babies would get food from Wire mother, but would cling to and imprint on cloth mother. Showed that they needed contact as well as nurishment. Also proving that monkey preferred the soft cloth mother and due to isolation they never learned how to mate.

Hermann von Helmholtz

German physiologist who demonstrated that the movement of impulses in the nerves and in the brain was not instantaneous, but instead took a small but finite amount of time. Against Vitalism, believed in the conservation of energy in animals and also modified the Tichromatic theory. Estimated the speed of nerve conduction at (apprx 90 ft/sec) , Also proposed that specific sound frequencies vibrate specific portions of the basilar membrane producing distinct pitches

Vitalism

Belief in a life force outside the jurisdiction of physical & chemical laws; eventually crumbled after lab synthesis of complex organic molecules

Basilar membrane

A structure that runs the length of the cochlea in the inner ear(supporting the organs of Corti) and holds the auditory receptors, called hair cells. The fibers of this are short and stiff near the oval window and long and fleaxible near the apex of the cochlea. This difference in structure allows the basilar membrane to help transduce pitch and initiating a chain of events that results in a nerve impulse traveling to the brain

Harry Helson

Theorist who endorses the life events model rather than the normative-crisis model for middle adulthood because timing of particular events in adults life, NOT the age, determine the course of personality development

Life events model

the approach to personality development that is based on the timing of particular events in an adult's life rather than on age per se (Helson). Is the opposite of Normative Crisis Model.

Normative crisis model

The traditional approach to adult personality development is which views personality development in terms of fairly universal stages, tied to a sequence of age-related crises.

Ernest Hilgard

Researched hypnosis and its effectiveness as an analgesic (reduction of pain) effect; studies showing that a hypnotic trance includes a "hidden observer," (arm in ice water test) suggesting that there is some subconscious control during hypnosis.Also called the dissociation theory of split consciousness-hynotized part of brain and an independent observer which works independently., Also created the Stanford hypnotic susceptibility scale.

hidden observer

Hilgard's term describing a hypnotized subject's awareness of experiences, such as pain, that go unreported during hypnosis.

dissociation theory

According to this theory, hypnotized subjects dissociate, or split, various aspects of their behavior and perceptions from the "self" that normally controls these functions. Developed by (Ernest Hilgard)

Hypnosis

a social interaction in which one person (the hypnotist) SUGGESTS to another (the subject) that certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts, or behaviors will spontaneously occur.

analgesia

The absence of pain sensations in the presence of a normally painful stimulus

Karen Horney

A neo-Freudian( and feminist) who criticized Freud, stated that personality is molded by current fears and impulses, rather than being determined solely by childhood experiences and instincts, neurotic trends; concept of "basic anxiety". Also said that psychoanalysis was biased against woman, and that men acted superior because they had "Womb Envy"

basic anxiety

Horney's theory of the deep-seated form of anxiety in children that is associated with feelings of being isolated and helpless in a world perceived as potentially threatening and hostile.

Penis Envy

In Psychoanalytic Thought, the desire of girls to posses a penis and therefore have the power that being male represents.

Womb Envy

The envy of pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood, which results in the unconscious depreciation of women. Mens impulse toward creative work may be an over-compensation for their small role in procreation.

Electra complex

conflict during phallic stage in which girls supposedly love their fathers romantically and want to eliminate their mothers as rivals, counterpart to the Oedipus complex for females

Oedipus complex

According to Freud, a boy's sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father, counterpart to the Electra Complex for males.

William James

Developed pragmatism(Functionalism). One of the founders of modern psychology, and the first to attempt to apply psychology as a science rather than a philosophy. Wrote first psychology textbook "The Principles of Psychology" and was interested in the the Meaning of Truth, (influenced by Darwin!)

Functionalism

William James school of psychology that focused on how mental and behavioral processes FUNCTION - how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish. (influenced by Darwin!)

Edward Titchner

He introduced structuralism, and was a student of Wilhelm Wudnt; He also encouraged introspection. Broke onsciousness down into three elements: physical sensations, feeling, and images

Structuralism

An early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the elemental structure of the human mind. (Edward Titchner)

Wilhelm Wudnt

Study the structure of the mind through introspection, developed the FIRST psychological lab inn Leipzig. Teacher of Edward Titchner.

Alfred Kinsey

College professor at Indiana University, Bloomington, author of "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male" and "Sexual Behavior in the Human Female;" collectively known as the Kinsey Report; report was controversial and inflammatory but well-received and immensely popular. Factored in the spurring of research for birth control., 1) Publishes a study based on male sexuality 2) Took a sample of 10,000 men, data said that sexual orientation was diverse and many were bi

Kinsey Report

"Sexual Behavior in the Human Male & Female": scientific study by Alfred Kinsey, turned traditional presumptions about sex and marriage on its head. high counts of homosexuality, masturbation, extramarital affairs, sexuality more fit to a continuum, homosexual tendencies are higher than expected, homosexual thoughts higher than expected. However, began interviewing people about their sexual behaviors in 1938. 17500 individuals, most of them were from University of Indiana and the surrounding community (White well educated individuals) FAILED to obtain a Representative sample.

Kinsey Scale

Kinsey 's rated sexuality on a 7-point scale ranging from exclusively heterosexual behavior (0) to exclusively homosexual behavior (6) (7 being asexual) Problem is he only looked at sexual behavior, not fantasies.

Ancel Keys

Developed the Laboratory of Physiological Hygiene at the University of Minnesota, , Led the hunger experiment where men were semistarved. The participants became food-obsessed, supports Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

Wolfgang Kohler

A Gestalt psychologist who became known for his experiments with chimpanzees and insight in problem solving. He believed that by perceiving the WHOLE situation, chimps were able to create novel solutions to problems (rather than just by trial and error). Through insight, chimps were able to use props in order to retrieve rewards., started Gestalt psychology with 2 companions Kurt Koffka, Max Wertheimer

Kurt Koffka

Worked with Wertheimer on his early perception experiments. Wrote Perception: An Introduction To Gestalt Theory which got recognition by the US.

Carl Lange

Danish physiologist who proposed a theory of emotion similar to, and about the same time as James' theory that awareness of physiological responses leads to experiences of emotion.

Simon LeVay

Wrote Sexual Brain and Queer Science, completed research on the DNA and finding a gay gene, he found the gene INAH3 was more than twice as large in heterosexual men as in homosexual men. Also found that certain brain regions (specifically, a cluster of cells on the hypothalamus) is different in homosexual(smaller) versus heterosexual men

Elizabeth Loftus

This psychologist discovered the misinformation effect: After exposure to subtle misinformation, many people misremember; as memory fades with time following an event, the injection of misinformation becomes easier, research on memory construction and the misinformation effect created doubts about the accuracy of eye-witness testimony, Along with John Palmer, showed people a filmed automobile accident, asked how fast cars were going when they smashed or bumped or contacted, asked if they had seen broken glass in the film (there was none) to study the tendency of people to construct memories based on how they are questioned.

misinformation effect

Occurs when participants' recall of an event they witnessed is altered by introducing misleading post event information

memory construction

The surprising ease with which people form false memories best illustrates that the processes of encoding and retrieval involve:

Abraham Maslow

A humanistic psychologist who proposed the hierarchy of needs, also developed the view that the human needs for security, love, belonging, self-esteem and self-actualization were more important than physiological needs for food, sleep and sex. He developed a theory of a hierarchy of human needs, of which the highest were the need for "self-actualization"

hierarchy of needs

Maslow's Theory of Motivation which states that we must achieve lower level needs, such as food, shelter, and safety before we can achieve higher level needs, such as belonging, esteem, and self-actualization.

self-actualization

According to Maslow, the ultimate psychological need that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to fulfill one's potential

Masters and Johnson

These two authors wrote a book called "Human Sexual Response" which proved that sex isn't just pleasurable for men., among the first to use laboratory experimentation and observation to study the sexual response cycle (1950s-60s); 4 levels include excitement, plateau, orgasm , and resolution

Stanley Milgram

Social psychologist that conducted studies in an effort to understand some of the vast horrors of World War II., obedience to authority; had participants administer what they believed were dangerous electrical shocks to other participants; wanted to see if Germans were an aberration or if all people were capable of committing evil actions., Did studies with humans where someone has charge over a button and is instructed to press it to punish the other volunteer for a wrong answer. In most cases, the person pressed the button well after the other subject could have died because a person will follow instructions to a fault from authority figures.

excitement phase

1st phase of the sexual response cycle; characterized by the genital areas becoming engorged with blood, causing the man's penis to become partially erect and the woman's clitoris to swell and the inner lips covering her vagina to open up. (Masters and Johnson)

plateau phase

the Second phase of the sexual response cycle, during which physical arousal continues to increase as the partners bodies prepare for orgasm. (Masters and Johnson)

orgasm phase

a series of rhythmic contractions of the muscles of the vaginal walls or the penis, also the Third and shortest phase of sexual response. (Masters and Johnson)

resolution phase

in sexual intercourse, the stage of relaxation that follows orgasm. (Masters and Johnson)

Sexual Response

Series of psychological and physiological changes that occur in the body during sexual behavior., its four stages are excitement, plateau, orgasm and resolution. (Masters and Johnson)

lost-letter

Experiment conducted by Stanley Milgram to test how helpful people are to strangers not present, and their attitudes towards various groups

confederate

Someone who appears to be a research participant but actually is part of the research team.

debriefing

giving participants in a research study a complete explanation of the study after the study is completed

Carl Jung

Student of Freud. Broke over Freud's emphasis of sexuality. Believed all people had a collective unconscious of the past generations, but the connection faded due to modernization., "the collective unconscious" and mythic "archetypes"Frued's follower. He also believed that Libido was all types of energy not just sexual. identified archetypes by studying dreams, visions, paintings, poetry, folk stories, myths, religions. Is also the Father of analytical psychologist.

collective unconscious

Carl Jung's concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species' history.

personal unconscious

According to Jung, the level of awareness that houses material that is not within one's conscious awareness because it has been repressed or forgotten.

Ivan Pavlov

a Russian researcher in the early 1900s who was the first research into learned behavior (conditioning) who discovered classical conditioning, by training dogs to salivate at the ringing of a bell, simplest form of classical conditioning is reminiscent of what Aristotle would have called the law of contiguity

law of contiguity

A law of association holding that events that occur in close proximity to each other in time or space are readily associated with each other. ( Aristotle) similar to classical conditioning.

Jean Piaget

Swiss psychologist remembered for his studies of cognitive development in children., Four stage theory of cognitive development: 1. sensorimotor, 2. preoperational, 3. concrete operational, and 4. formal operational. He said that the two basic processes work in tandem to achieve cognitive growth-assimilation and accomodation.

assimilation

in the theories of Jean Piaget: the application of a general schema to a particular instance

accomodation

According to Jean Piaget, mental processes that restructures existing schemas so that the new info is better understood ex:a child's schema of a bird includes any flying object, until they learn that a butterfly or a plane is not a bird

Philippe Pinel

He insisted that madness was not due to demonic possession, but an ailment of the mind, and who contributed to the more humane treatment of psychiatric patients in the late 1700s

Carl Rogers

Humanistic psychologist who stressed the inportance of acceptance, genuineness, and empathy in fostering human growth. , Developed "client-centered" therapy, self theory, and also unconditional positive regard

client-centered therapy

A humanistic therapy, developed by Carl Rogers, in which the therapist uses techniques such as active listening within a genuine, accepting, empathic environment to facilitate clients' growth.

self theory

The theory according to Carl Rogers that when we are unsure of our attitudes, we infer them much as would someone observing us, by looking at our behavior and the circumstances under which it occurs

unconditional positive regard

According to Carl Rogers, an attitude of total acceptance toward another person.

Stanley Schachter

Developed the 2 factor emotion theory-physiological happens first, cognitive appraisal must be made in order to experience emotion. Had .Experiments on the Spillover Effect.

spillover effect

occasions when our emotional response to one event carries over into our response to another event. (Stanley Schachter)

Two-factor theory of emotion

Schachter and Singer's theory that emotion is the interaction of physiological arousal and the cognitive label that we apply to explain the arousal, The idea that emotional experience is the result of a two-step self perception process in which people first experience physiological arousal and then seek an appropriate explanation for it.

cognitive appraisal

the idea that to feel stress you need to perceive a threat and come to the conclusion that you may not have adequate resources to deal with the threat.

Theodore Simon

Working with Binet, he published a test of general mental ability that was loaded with items that required abstract reasoning skills rather than sensory skills. Helped figure out mental Age

John Locke

Believed people were born like blank slates and the environment shapes development, (tabula rasa). Wrote Essay Concerning Human Understanding, and Second Treatise of Government.

mental age

A measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; the chronological age that most typically corresponds to a given level of performance. Thus, a child who does as well as the average 8-year-old is said to have a mental age of 8.

B.F Skinner

A behaviorist and pioneer of operant conditioning who believed that everything we do is determined by our past history of rewards and punishments. he is famous for use of his operant conditioning aparatus which he used to study schedules of reinforcement on pidgeons and rats.

Charles Spearman

An english psychologist, known for his work in statistics, as a pioneer of factor analysis and for Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. He also did seminal work on models for human intelligence, including his theory that disparate cognitive test scores reflect a single general factor and coining the term g factor. Predicted that doing good on one part of a test should mean that you do good on another part.

a statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items (called factors) on a test; used to identify different dimensions of performance that underlie one's total score

G factor

SPEARMAN'S term for a general intellectual ability that underlies all mental operations to some degree

General Intelligence

a general intelligence factor that, according to Spearman and others, underlies specific mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test

Robert Sternberg

A professor at Yale and the author of Successful Intelligence, the concept of successful intelligence contrasts with the more narrow academic intelligence measured by IQ tests and other standardized examinations". evised the Triarchic Theory of Intelligence (academic problem-solving, practical, and creative)

Triarchic Theory

Theory proposed by Robert Sternberg that states that intelligence consists of three parts including Analytic = the ability to solve problems, Creative = the ability to deal with new situations, and Practical = the ability to adjust and cope with one's environment

Lewis Terman

Revised Binet's IQ test and established norms for American children; tested group of young geniuses and followed in a longitudinal study that lasted beyond his own lifetime to show that high IQ does not necessarily lead to wonderful things in life. he test then became the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test. He is also known for his longitudinal research on gifted kids.

longitudinal research

Collect data from the same group of individuals as they age, useful in life span studies, HOWEVER downsides are that participants may withdraw, die, move away, influenced by changing historical context

Edward Thorndike

Pioneer in operant conditioning who discovered concepts in intstrumental learning such as the law of effect. Known for his work with cats in puzzle boxes.

law of effect

Thorndike's principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely

instrumental learning

Associative learning in which a behavior becomes more or less probable depending on its consequences

John Watson

Founder of behaviorism, the view that psychology should restrict its efforts to studying observable behaviors, not mental processes, amous for Little Albert study in which baby was taught to fear a white rat

Little Albert study

Study by John Watson and Reyner (1920), in which a little boy(11 months( became afraid of white fuzzy objects, especially white rats because he associated them with a loud clang after seeing a bunny and hearing a loud clang at the same time.

Hypnosis

a social interaction in which one person (the hypnotist) suggests to another (the subject) that certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts, or behaviors will spontaneously occur. Freud used this to enter the unconscious of his patients

Benjamin Whorf

A linguist who noticed that the more words that you have for a certain type of thing, the more subtle the distinctions you recognize in it. Also , language we use might control, and in some ways limit our thinking. For example since the Hopi didn't have a grammatical structure that as useful for the past, they rarely talked or worried about it.

Linguistic relativity hypothesis

The notion that the language a person speaks largely determines the nature of that person's thoughts (Benjamin Whorf)

Thomas Young

Published "A Theory of Color Vision" in England (his theory was later called the trichromatic theory), , Double Slit Interference Experiment: Light is made of waves

Stanford Prison experiment

Philip Zimbardo's study of the effect of roles on behavior. Participants were randomly assigned to play either prisoners or guards in a mock prison. The study was ended early because of the "guards'" role-induced cruelty. Proved that situational forces can lead ordinary people to exhibit horrendous behavior.

role

the actions and activities assigned to or required or expected of a person or group

Groupthink

The mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives (Think Kennedy's Advisors)

forensic psychology

field that blends psychology, law, and criminal justice. These psychologists make legal evaluations of a person's mental competency to stand trial, the state of mind of a defendant at the time of a crime, the fitness of a parent to have custody of children, or allegations of child abuse. (Yeah I just had to use this picture, its hilarious)

Phrenologist

A scientist who studied the shape of the skull and bumps on the head to determine whether these physical attributes are linked to criminal behavior; believed that external cranial characteristics dictate which areas of the brain control physical activity.

field experiments

Applies the scientific method to experimentally examine an occurence in the real world (or in naturally-occurring environments) rather than in the laboratory.

Basic research

One of the two main types of research, pure research that aims to confirm an existing theory or to learn more about a concept or phenomenon

Scientific method

A general approach to gathering information and answering questions so that errors and biases are minimized

Applied research

One of the two main types of research, conducted specifically to solve practical problems and improve the quality of life.

validity

the extent to which the data collected address the research hypothesis in the way intended

reliability

Yielding consistent results; Does not insure validity

replicated

research is reliable when it can be ___________

hypothesis

possible explanation for a set of observations or possible answer to a scientific question

practice effect

is an improvement in performance as a result of repeated practice with a task, repeated testing causes people to remember some of the test items; side effect of longitudinal studies

longitudinal studies

research method in which data is collected about a group of participants over a number of years to assess how certain characteristics change or remain the same during development, , follow the same children over different ages, Benefits: can track long-term effects, controls for differences over different people, Problems: time, money, drop-outs

Cohort

A population group unified by a specific common characteristic, such as age, and subsequently treated as a statistical unit.

Descriptive research

is any type of research that describes the "who, what, when, where" of a situation, not what caused it

case study

A research method used to get a full, detailed picture of one subject or a small group of subjects, is also an observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles.

generalizable

Characteristic of a sample that refers to the degree to which findings based on the sample can be used to make accurate statements about the population of interest.

Columbine

In 1999, two students in Littleton, Colorado, brought weapons to school and killed 12 students and wounded many others before killing themselves. The tragedy was one of seven such shootings in the US that year, and led to changes in gun control, school safety measures, and the monitoring of media violence. Shows how one case study can have powerful, unnecessary and dangerous effects.

naturalistic observation

Observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation.

Correlational Research

A research strategy that identifies the relationships between two or more variables in order to describe how these variables change together.

hidden variable

an extraneous variable that does not have a direct connection to the correlation, and is thus hard to recognize

Correlation

a statistical relation between two or more variables such that systematic changes in the value of one variable are accompanied by systematic changes in the other, remember _____________ not causation.

Positive Correlation

A correlation where as one variable increases, the other also increases, or as one decreases so does the other. Both variables move in the same direction. First Graph

Negative Correlation

a correlation where one two variables tend to move in the opposite direction (example: the number of pages printed and the amount of ink left in your printer are negatively correlated. The more pages printed, the less ink you have left.) Middle Graph

Correlational Coefficient

a statistical measure expressing the relationship between two or more variables with a single number between 1 & 1, inclusive

survey method

A research technique that questions a sample of people to collect information about their attitudes or behaviors. Probably the most common

sample

items selected at random from a population and used to test hypotheses about the population

population

the entire aggregation of items from which samples can be drawn

Random selection

a sampling method in which each element has an equal chance of selection independent of any other event in the selection process

causation

a relationship between variables such that change in the value of one is directly responsible for change in the value of the other

experimental method

a research technique in which an investigator deliberately manipulates selected events or circumstances and then measures the effects of those manipulations on subsequent behavior to try an determine if there is a cause an effect relationship.

Laboratory experiments

Studies that take place under controlled conditions where the researcher deliberately manipulates the independent variable to see its effect on a dependent variable.

experimental group

A subject or group of subjects in an experiment that is exposed to the factor or condition being tested.

control group

in an experiment, a group that serves as a standard of comparison with another group to which the control group is identical except for one factor

Independent Variable

The experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied.

Dependent Variable

the outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable

confounding variables

factors that cause differences between the experimental group and the control group other than the independent variable, you DO NOT want these at all.

Operationalize

Process by which we make a theoretical variable one that we can measure

placebo

an inert substance given to the control group in an experiment

blind study

As a way to avoid the placebo effect in research, this type of study is designed without the subject's knowledge of the anticipated results and sometimes even the nature of the study. The subjects are said to be 'blind' to the expected results.

double blind study

An experimental procedure in which both researchers and participants are uninformed about the nature of the independent variable being administered

tabulation

The orderly arrangement of data in a table or other summary format showing the number of responses to each response category; tallying.

degrees of freedom

A parameter of the t distribution. When the t distribution is used in the computation of an interval estimate of a population mean, the appropriate t distribution has n-1 degrees of freedom, where n is the size of the simple random sample.

Chi Square

One of the most basic tests for statistical significance that is particularly appropriate for testing hypotheses about frequencies arranged in a frequency or contingency table., sum of (observed-expectated)^2/expected, if your value is above the expected value then you reject your null hypothesis, if below or equal you except you null hypothesis

null hypothesis

The hypothesis that states there is no difference between two or more sets of data. Stating opposite of what you expect to find

placebo effect

experimental results caused by expectations alone; any effect on behavior caused by the administration of an inert substance or condition, which is assumed to be an active agent

self-fulfilling prophecy

process in which a person's expectation about another elicits behavior from the second person that confirms the expectation; evidenced in a study by Rosenthal and Jacobsen at an elementary school where students performed to the teacher's expectation, AKA Pygmalion Effect

reasoning in which a conclusion is reached by stating a general principle and then applying that principle to a specific case (The sun rises every morning; therefore, the sun will rise on Tuesday morning.)

Inductive Reasoning

reasoning from detailed facts to general principles. Ex. "All of the ice we have examined so far is cold.Therefore, all ice is cold."Personification assigning human qualities to inanimate objects or concepts. Wordsworth's "the sea that bares her bosom to the moon."

Rosenthal

A psychologist who conducted a study on self-fulfilling prophecy with students expected to improve, social expectations influence how one treats and behaves toward those people, the way they are treated shape them into what is socially expected

clinical case study

A detailed investigation of a single person, especially one suffering from some injury or disease.

speculation

a hypothesis that has been formed by speculating or conjecturing (usually with little hard evidence)

statistically significant

a term used to describe research results when the outcome of a statistical test indicates that the probability of those results occurring by chance is small

meta-analysis

A procedure for statistically combining the results of many different research studies., A set of statistical procedures used to review a body of evidence by combining the results of individual studies to measure the overall reliability and strength of particular effects

curvilinear relationship

A relationship in which increases in the values of the first variable are accompanied by both increases and decreases in the values of the second variable.

halo effect

To generalize and perceive that a persona has a whole set of characteristics when your have actually observed only one characteristic, trait or behavior

gender bias

Stereotypical views and differential treatment of males and females, often favoring one over the other

courtesy bias

the tendency of those being surveyed to provide responses that will please and/or not offend the interviewer, moderator, or other participants

cultural bias

An aspect of an intelligence test in which the wording used in questions may be more familiar to people of one social group than to another group.

ageism

aged-based discrimination that is usually toward the elderly, but can be against anyone

pseudo-psychology

Any false and unscientific system of beliefs and practices that is offered as an explanation of behavior. Ex: Palm readers, psychics etcetera.

commonsense psychology

Everyday, nonscientific collection of psychological data used to understand the social world and guide our behavior.

applied psychology

any of several branches of psychology that seek to apply psychological principles to practical problems of education or industry or marketing etc.

Clever Hans

A German horse that was claimed to have been able to perform math and other intellectual tasks. It was determined that the horse wasn't actually performing these mental tasks but was watching the reaction(cues) of the human observers.

axioms

Propositions built on fundemental truths that lead to the creation of theorems

P. T. Barnum effect

-tendency of people to accept high base rate descriptions as accurate. -personal validation are a flawed method for evaluating a tests validity (astrology, card readers)

P. T. Barnum

A nineteenth-century American showman known for his circus, "The Greatest Show on Earth." His sideshows were particularly notable, even though many of the "freaks" he advertised were hoaxes." AFter Barnum's death, his circus was absorbed into the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

Objective

without bias or prejudice; detached

representative sampling

a sample from a larger population that is statistically typical of that population.

astrology

a pseudoscience claiming divination by the positions of the planets and sun and moon

experimenter effect

An experimenter-related artifact that results when the hypothesis held by the experimenter leads unintentionally to behavior toward the subjects that, in turn, increases the likelihood that the hypothesis will be confirmed

Observer bias

expectations or biases of the observer that might distort or influence his or her interpretation of what was actually observed

Theory

an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes and predicts observations

zero correlation

the absence of a relationship between two or more variables as determined by a correlational statistic. Often abbreviated as 'r=0.'

Error

a wrong action attributable to bad judgment or ignorance or inattention, you probably have this if your correlation coeifcent is above 1 or below -1.

ex post facto study

A type nonexperimental research design that involves the comparison of subjects, who are placed in contrast groups, on the basis of some pre-existing characteristic of the subjects.

response bias

anything in the survey design that influences the responses from the sample

frequency polygon

graph of a frequency distribution that shows the number of instances of obtained scores, usually with the data points connect by straight lines

frequency distribution

A summary chart, showing how frequently each of the various scores in a set of data occurs

measure of central tendency

The three measures are: mode, median, and mean. They usually fall in the middle of the distribution and tell us certain facts about it.

mode

The most frequently occurring score(s) in a distribution.

median

The middle number in a set of numbers that are listed in order

mean

an average of n numbers computed by adding some function of the numbers and dividing by some function of n

normal distribution

bell-shaped curve that results when the values of a trait in a population are plotted against their frequency

debriefing

a procedure to inform participants about the true nature of an experiment after its completion

informed consent

the agreement of participants to take part in an experiment and their acknowledgement that they understand the nature of their participation in the research, and have been fully informed about the general nature of the research, its goals, and methods

range

The difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution.

inferential statistics

Numerical methods used to determine whether research data support a hypothesis or whether results were due to chance.

standard deviation

percentile score

A score that indicates the percentage of people who achieved the same as or less than a particular score.

Mentalism

An approach to explaining behavior that assumes that a mental, or "inner," dimension exists that differs from a behavioral dimension and that phenomena in this dimension either directly cause or at least mediate some forms of behavior, if not all.

Immanuel Kant

wrote "Critique of Pure Reason"; 12 Innate categories of thought (faculties) superimposed on sensory experience.His central thesis—that the possibility of human knowledge presupposes the active participation of the human mind. The categorical imperative

categorical imperative

A concept developed by the philosopher Immanuel Kant as an ethical guideline for behavior. In deciding whether an action is right or wrong a person should evaluate the action in terms of what would happen if everybody else in the same situation, or category, acted the same way.

Iceberg theory

Freud's theory that the conscious was only a very small part of the mind and did not account for most of the psychological factors that affect behavior. Instead most of the psychological factors that effect behavior are found in the unconscious. There is also a a preconscious level.

Unconscious

According to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories mainly formed during childhood. According to contemporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware.

Sigmund Freud

Austrian neurologist who originated psychoanalysis (1856-1939); Said that human behavior is irrational; behavior is the outcome of conflict between the id (irrational unconscious driven by sexual, aggressive, and pleasure-seeking desires) and ego (rationalizing conscious, what one can do) and superego (ingrained moral values, what one should do).

Conscious level

The level at which mental activities that people are normally aware of occur

Preconscious level

A level of mental activity that is not currently conscious but of which we can easily become conscious.

Unconscious level

The mental level containing events and feelings that we find unacceptable for our conscious minds. We do not have access to it and these thoughts stay hidden (repressed) but make up most of who we are. As we will find out, the key to psychoanalytic therapy is to find ways to delve into the _______________

Psyche

The conscious(Ego) unconscious(Id), and preconscious(Superego) drives in an individual that influence thought, behavior and personality

Id

The drive of the psyche that contains animalistic and most basic instincts, and also develops first( A baby psyche is all of this drive), it is also located in your unconscious so you are largely unaware of it. It also works on the pleasure principle.

pleasure principle

Freud's theory regarding the id's desire to maximize pleasure and minimize pain in order to achieve immediate gratification.

Ego

The drive of your psyche that is is located in our conscious so it is the part of our personality that we are aware of and everyone sees. It works on the reality principle and is generally the boss of your personality(Also develops after the Id, but before the Superego.

reality principle

According the Freud, the attempt by the ego to satisfy both the id and the superego while still considering the reality of the situation.

Superego

The drive of your psyche that develops last(around the age of 8) and is located in the preconscious. It is the our morals and our sense of right and wrong, and also future aspirations. Like a Conscience

oral stage

Freud's first stage of personality development, from birth to about age 2, during which the instincts of infants are focused on the mouth as the primary pleasure center.

anal stage

Freud's second stage of psychosexual development where the primary sexual focus is on the elimination or holding onto feces. The stage is often thought of as representing a child's ability to control his or her own world.

anal retentive

A fixation that develops during the anal stage if a child's freedom to have bowel movements is restricted that can result in obsessively organized and meticulous personality traits

latency stage

Freud's fourth stage of psychosexual development where sexuality is repressed in the unconscious and children focus on identifying with their same sex parent and interact with same sex peers.

erogenous zone

The area of the body where the id's pleasure seeking energies are focused during a particular stage of psychosexual development.

genital stage

Freud's last stage of personality development, from the onset of puberty through adulthood, during which the sexual conflicts of childhood resurface (at puberty) and are often resolved during adolescence).

phallic stage

Freud's third stage of personality development, from about age 4 through age 7, during which children obtain gratification primarily from the genitals.

libido

In Freud's theory, the instinctual (and sexual) life force that, working on the pleasure principle and seeking immediate gratification, energizes the id.

psychosexual stages

The childhood stages of development (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital) during which, according to Freud, the id's pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones.

anal expulsive character

Character type that results from a fixation at the early anal stage. Person may be overly generous or has trouble with bowel control

Oedipus Complex

According to Freud, a conflict that develops in the phallic stage, where a boy has sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father

Electra Complex

According to Freud a conflict during phallic stage in which girls supposedly love their fathers romantically and want to eliminate their mothers as rivals

penis envy

In Psychoanalytic Thought, the desire of girls to posses a penis and therefore have the power that being male represents.

the classical defense mechanism that protects you from impulses or ideas that would cause anxiety by preventing them from becoming conscious

Denial

defense mechanism by which people refuse to believe or even to perceive painful realities.

Displacement

psychoanalytic defense mechanism that shifts sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person, as when redirecting anger toward a safer outlet

Projection

psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which people disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others.

Reaction Formation

psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which the ego unconsciously switches unacceptable impulses into their opposites. Thus, people may express feelings that are the opposite of their anxiety-arousing unconscious feelings.

Regression

psychoanalytic defense mechanism in which an individual faced with anxiety retreats to a more infantile psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated

Rationalization

defense mechanism that offers self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening, unconscious reasons for one's actions

Intellectualization

A defense mechanism that involves thinking abstractly about stressful problems as a way of detaching oneself from them;

Sublimation

a defense mechanism in which unacceptable energies are directed into socially admirable outlets, such as art, exercise

Dream Interpretation

a method developed by Freud in which the symbols of the manifest content of dreams that are recalled by the patient are interpreted to reveal their latent content

Interpretation of Dreams

Freud's crowning achievement, a book written in 1900 about the treatment of people with mental disorders that tried to garner support for his psychoanalytical theories. In this book, Freud first described his theories about the psychic apparatus (id, ego, superego), wish-fulfillment as a main goal of dreams, dream analysis, and concepts that would later become his theory of the Oedipus complex.

Manifest Content

according to Freud, the remembered story line of a dream (as distinct from its latent, or hidden, content).

Latent Content

according to Freud, the underlying meaning of a dream (as distinct from its manifest content). Freud believed that this functions as a safety valve.

wish-fulfillment

Freud's belief that dreams were an expression of the id's impulses, superego commands ego to convert wishes into symbols

Hypnotic suggestibility

the degree to which a subject is responsive to suggestions, suggestions can involve making or not making appropriate motor movements in response to imagined situations, cognitive suggestions involveing changes in perception, thought and memory can also be made, higher among people who have rich fantasy lives( Do you play World of Warcraft, Star Wars etc.etc.)

posthypnotic amnesia

Supposed inability to recall what one experienced during hypnosis; induced by the hypnotist's suggestion.

role theory

According to this theory, subjects under hypnosis merely act in accordance with the hypnotized role. They are not in a special state

state theory

According to this theory, hypnotized people experience an altered state of consciousness

dissociation theory

According to this theory, hypnotized subjects dissociate, or split, various aspects of their behavior and perceptions from the "self" that normally controls these functions

Ernest Hilgard

A psychologist who believed that hypnosis worked only on the immediate conscious mind of a person. he also believes that there is a hidden part of the mind(hidden observer) that is very much aware of the hypnotic subjects activities and sensations.

hidden observer

Hilgard's term describing a hypnotized subject's awareness of experiences, such as pain, that go unreported during hypnosis

Free Association

in psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing, allowing some of the unconscious to come through.

Transference

in psychoanalysis, the patient's transfer to the analyst of emotions linked with other relationships (such as love or hatred for a parent).

Karen Horney

A neo-Freudian psychologist that criticized Freud, stated that personality is molded by current fears and impulses, rather than being determined solely by childhood experiences and instincts, neurotic trends; concept of "basic anxiety", also said that men exhibit womb envy.

womb envy

A term coined by Karen Horney, is the neo-Freudian feminist equivalent of penis envy. Horney suggests that it is the unexpressed anxiety felt by some men over women's ability to give birth, leading them to dominate women or driving them to succeed in order for their names to live on

Neo-Freudians

Group of psychologists who agree with Freud's emphasis on the impact of childhood on one's life, but move away from a sole focus on sex and aggression, Include Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, Erich Fromm, Karen Horney, Erik Erikson

Erik Erickson

A neo-Freudian psychologist that hypothesized that people face pass through 8 social development stages from infancy to old age. Each challenge has an outcome that affects a persons social and personality development.

Alfred Adler

A neo-Freudian psychologist that introduced concept of "inferiority complex" and stressed the importance of birth order and agreed with Freud that childhood is important but believed that childhood social, not sexual, tentions are crucial for personality formation. inferiority complex, our behavior is driven by efforts to conquer childhood feelings of inferiority.

Carl Jung

A neo-Freudian psychologist that argue that the unconscious is actually divided up into two parts, the personal unconscious and the collective unconscious and identified archetypes by studying dreams, visions, paintings, poetry, folk stories, myths, religions

inferiority complex

Adler's theory of the feelings of inadequacy or inferiority in young children that influence their developing personalities and create desires to overcome

superiority complex

A complex when one Overcompensates for feelings of normal inferiority..... a means of inflating one's self-importance in order to overcome inferiority feelings, according to Adler

personal unconscious

Jung's term for an unconscious region of mind comprising a reservoir of the individual's repressed memories and impulses

collective unconscious

Carl Jung's concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species' history.

Erich Fromm

A neo-Freudian psychologist that centerd his theory around the need to belong and the loneliness freedom brings , believed personality is to a considerable extent a reflection of factors such as social class, minority status, education, vocation, religious and philosophical background.

archetypes

According to Jung, emotionally charged images and thought forms that have universal meaning.

Projective tests

A personality test, such as the Rorschach or TAT, that provides ambiguous stimuli to trigger projection of one's inner thoughts and feelings

Thematic Apperception Test

(TAT) A projective test consisting of drawings of ambiguous human situations, which the test taker describes; thought to reveal inner feelings, conflicts, and motives, which are projected onto the test materials.

Rorschach Inkblot Test

the most widely used projective test, a set of 10 inkblots, designed by Hermann Rorschach; seeks to identify people's inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots.

Resistance

an unwillingness to bring repressed feelings into conscious awareness

Trust versus mistrust

Erikson's first psychosocial stage. Infants learn "basic trust" if the world is a secure place where their basic needs (for food, comfort, attention) are met.

Autonomy versus doubt

The second stage in Erickson's theory of development, as the child begins to control bowels and other bodily functions, learns language, and begins to receive orders from adult authorities. An inevitable conflict arises: Who's in charge here?

Initiative versus guilt

In Erikson's theory, the psychological conflict of early childhood, which is resolved positively through play experiences that foster a health sense of initiative and through the development of a superego, or conscience that is not overly strict and/or guilt-ridden

Industry versus inferiority

The fourth of erison's eight psychosocial crises, during which children attempt to master many skills, developing a sense of themselves as either industrious or inferior, competent or incompetent. Happens around the time you first enter school.

Identity versus role confusion

In Erik Erikson's theory, the fifth stage of development in which adolescents explore who they are and how they fit into society.

Intimacy versus isolation

Erikson's sixth stage of development. Adults see someone with whom to share their lives in an eduring and self-sacrificing commitment. Without such commitment, they risk profound aloneness and isolation.

Generativity versus stagnation

Erikson's seventh stage of psychosocial development, in which the middle-aged adult develops a concern with establishing, guiding, and influencing the next generation or else experiences stagnation (a sense of inactivity or lifelessness)

mid life crisis

Feelings of boredom and stagnation in middle adulthood; time when adults discover they no longer feel fulfilled in their jobs or personal lives and attempt to make a decisive shift in career or lifestyle(formed in Erikson's 7th Stage)

Integrity versus despair

Erickson's final, eighth stage, where the person asks himself or herself: "After seventy, eighty, or ninety years of life, do I have anything of interest and value to say to the next generation? Or not?", A conflict in old age between feelings of integrity and the despair of viewing previous life events with regret.

basic trust

according to Erik Erikson, a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy; said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers.

psychosocial development

Erikson described eight stages of development in which the individual moves between two opposing themes, this is called:

Humanistic school

The branch of Psychology that focuses on a person's capacity for personal growth, freedom to choose a destiny(Free Will), positive qualities, and self actualizing tendencies. Includes critical concepts like Client- centered therapy- Born good; free will, Incongruence, Basically (Think you can be the change you want in the world)

Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow's Theory of Motivation which states that we must achieve lower level needs, such as food, shelter, and safety before we can achieve higher level needs, such as belonging, esteem, and self-actualization.

Abraham Maslow

The first humanistic psychologist ; created the hierarchy of needs-needs at a lower level dominate an individual's motivation as long as they are unsatisfied; self-actualization is the highest transcendence

free will

the human ability to make decisions without being forced to choose or act in one specific way, a key of the humanistic school

Determinism

a philosophy that says things are determined in ways that are out of human hands, most schools EXCEPT the Humanistic use this

Incongruence

The degree of disparity between one's self-concept and one's actual experience.

self-actualization

according to Maslow, the ultimate psychological need that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to fulfill one's potential

self-concept

All our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, "Who am I?" In order to reach self actulization it must be positive.

Carl Rogers

Very Important Humanistic psychologist who stressed the inportance of acceptance, genuineness, and empathy in fostering human growth through his Self Theory(Also called Client Centered Theory)

self theory

Carl Rogers's theory of personality, which emphasizes the individual's active attempts to satisfy his needs in a manner that is consistent with his self-concept.

The ability to present oneself honestly and spontaneously. (So the opposite of most politicians)

acceptance

Conformity that involves both acting and believing in accord with social pressure.

empathy

Identification with and understanding of another's situation, feelings, and motives

unconditional positive regard

according to Rogers, an attitude of total acceptance toward another person.

client centered therapy

A humanistic therapy, developed by Carl Rogers, in which the therapist uses techniques such as active listening within a genuine, accepting, empathic environment to facilitate clients' growth.

nondirective

therapy style in which the therapist remains relatively neutral and does not interpret or take direct actions with regard to the client, instead remaining a calm, nonjudgmental listener while the client talks,

active listening

empathic listening in which the listener echoes, restates, and clarifies. A feature of Rogers' client-centered therapy, the form of psychological treatment that if you get people are most likely to make fun of you for paying for it.

Gestalt psychologist

Study the ways the WHOLE brain perceives and interprets information from the senses

phenomenological approach

the view that to fully understand the causes of another person's behavior requires an understanding not of the physical or objective reality of the person's world, but of how he or she subjectively experiences that world

Clark Moustakas

is an American psychologist and one of the leading experts on humanistic and clinical psychology. He helped establish the Association for Humanistic Psychology and the Journal for Humanistic Psychology. He is the author of numerous books and articles on humanistic psychology

American Psychological Association

scientific and professional society of psychologists and educators; world's largest association of psychologists; founded in 1892; made up of 53 divisions, each representing a specific area

Rollo May

Existiential humanist who embrassed free will and the in herently difficult and tragic aspects of the human condition, authored the influential book Love and Will

Existentialist

a philosopher who emphasizes freedom of choice and personal responsibility but who regards human existence in a hostile universe as unexplainable, influenced humanistic psychology greatly

father of phenomenology, method of bracketing: excluding from further interest elements that do not belong in universal essence

Thomas Szasz

A humanistic psychologist that argues that mental illness does not even exist, it is a "myth".He argues that the symptoms used as evidence of mental illness are merely medical labels that allow professional intervention into what are social problems-deviant people violating social norms.

Fritz Perls

Originator of Gastalt theory. Considered most dreams a special message about what is missing in our lives, what we avoid doing, or feelings that need to be "re-owned." Believed that dreams are a way of filling gaps in personal experience. Method of analyzing dreams involved speaking for characters and objects in your dreams.

Sartre

French existentialist who said human beings simply eist "they turn up, appear on the scene" where they have to define themselves because they are alone in a meaningless life with no God; man is condemned to be free, influenced the phenomenological approach

Noam Chomsky

Psychologist that specialized in language development; disagreed with Skinner about language acquisition, stated there is an infinite # of sentences in a language, humans have an inborn native ability to develop language

Albert Ellis

A Cognitive Psychologist, founder of school of psychology known as Rational Emotive Therapy (REBT). Became one of the first psychologists to specialize in sexual and marital problems. Believes strongly in the individual's power over his or her own life. Looks to expose and confront the dysfunctional thoughts of their clients

Phonemes

the smallest units of sound in a language that are distinctive for speakers of the language, like constants vowels in english, about about 44 different

Theory of Behaviorist BF Skinner, that is one of the way that explains why kids acquire language, , a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher

language acquisition device

Chomsky's concept of an innate, prewired mechanism in the brain that allows children to acquire language naturally

nativist theory of language acquisition

-Chomsky-there is an infinite number of sentences in language, therefore it is impossible for a child to learn purely from imitation-children learn the rules of language-humans are equip with a language acquisition device..thus just like birds learn to fly, we learn to talk

Benjamin Whorf

A linguist/psychologist who noticed that the more words that you have for a certain type of thing, the more subtle the distinctions you recognize in it. Also came up with a concept called linguistic relativity hypothesis, based partially on the relization that the the Hopi Indian tribe in North America had very few words in their language for past tense, and never ever thought about the past.

Linguistic relativity hypothesis

the hypothesis that language determines, or at least influences, the way we think (Benjamin Whorf)

concepts

mental categories for classifying events, objects, and ideas on the basis of their common features or properties

prototypes

A mental image that incorporates the features we associate with a category

image

a mental representation of an event or object

Algorithms

Problem-solving procedures or formulas that guarantee a correct outcome, if correctly applied, Think Formulas in Mathematics

Heuristics

A simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgment and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier, but more error-prone than algorithms

Availability Heuristic

estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common

Representativeness Heuristic

judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead one to ignore other relevant information

overconfidence

the tendency to be more confident than correct—to overestimate the accuracy of one's beliefs and judgments. (

A tendency of clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited.

rigidity

the quality or state of being unyielding or stiff

mental sets

barriers to problem solving that occur when we apply only methods that have worked in the past rather than trying new or different strategies

functional fixedness

the tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions; an impediment to problem solving, thinking of penny to spend only etc etc etc..

confirmation bias

a tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence

Framing

the way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments, Like if I said there is a 90% life rate compared to me saying there is a 10% death rate.

Creativity

the capacity to use information and/or abilities in a new and original way

divergent thinking

thinking that moves away in diverging directions so as to involve a variety of aspects and which sometimes lead to novel ideas and solutions, seen as being more creative than convergent thinking

Convergent thinking

a type of critical thinking in which one evaluates existing possible solutions to a problem to choose the best one

Cognitive psychology

perspective that focuses on the internal mental processes involved in perception, learning, memory, and thinking

Rational Emotive Therapy

A Cognitive Therapy based on Albert Ellis' theory that cognitions control our emotions and behaviors; therefore, changing the way we think about things will affect the way we feel and the way we behave.

schema

A collection of basic knowledge about a category of information; serves as a means of organization and interpretation of that information

Aaron Beck

Considered the father of Cognitive Therapy, and the cognitive triad , he proposed that during childhood and adolescence some people undergo wrenching experiences such as the loos of a parent severe difficulties in gaining parental or social approval or humiliating criticism from teachers or other adults

Cognitive Therapy

A therapy developed by Aaron Beck that teaches people new, more adaptive ways of thinking and acting; based on the assumption that thoughts intervene between events and our emotional reactions

Cognitive triad

According to Beck, there are 3 important areas of life that are most influenced by the depressive cognitive schema; this refers to information about the self, about the world, and about the future

Learned Helplessness

the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events.

Internal Locus of Control

people with this tend to respond to internal states and desires; they tend to see their successes as the result of their own efforts

views behavior as influenced by the interaction between persons (and their thinking) and their social context.

Social Cognitive Theory

contemporary learning-based model that emphasizes the roles played by both cognitive factors and environmental or situational factors in determining behavior

Reciprocal Determinism

Bandura's idea that though our environment affects us, we also affect our environment

Watson

Called the father of behaviorism, he claimed that a psychologist's only interest should be in observable behavior.

Grammar

in a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others

Semantics

the set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences in a given language; also, the study of meaning

One-word stage

the stage in speech development, from about age 1 to 2, during which a child speaks mostly in single words.

Two word stage

beginning about age 2, the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly two-word statements

social learning theory

the theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished.

visualization

The process of producing visual images in your mind

Kohler

A Gestalt psychologist who helped developed insight learning based on experiments with a chimp (Chip "Sulton") trying to get bananas, and also came up with the theory of isomorphism

isomorphism

A constraining process that forces one organization to resemble others that face the same set of environmental conditions. (Kohler)

Trial and Error

problem-solving strategy; best if there are limited choices; takes time to try all approaches; try one approach, fail; and another until you succeed; guarantees a solution

Insight

a sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem

Factor Analysis

a statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items (called factors) on a test; used to identify different dimensions of performance that underlie one's total score.

Charles Spearman

An english psychologist, known for his work in statistics, as a pioneer of factor analysis and for Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. He also did seminal work on models for human intelligence, including his theory that disparate cognitive test scores reflect a single general factor and coining the term g factor. Most importantly if you do good on one part of the test you will most likely do well on the other parts.

The ability to detect patterns, reason deductively and think logically. Most often associated with scientific and mathematical thinking

Kinesthetic Intelligence

The ability to use one's mind to control one's bodily movements. This challenges the popular belief that mental and physical activity are unrelated.

Musical Intelligence

the ability to perceive, produce, and appreciate pitch and rhythm, and our appreciation of the forms of musical expressiveness

Interpersonal intelligence

The ability to apprehend the feelings and intentions of others.

Intrapersonal intelligence

The ability to understand one's own feelings and motivations.

Natural intelligence

As opposed to 'symbolic AI',is goal-directed, autonomous and ordered problem solving within a complex system, without the need for explicit representation, planning and search.

Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

Sternberg's theory, which identifies three broad, interacting intelligences - analytical, creative, and practical - that must be balanced to achieve success according to one's personal goals and the requirements of one's cultural community

Sternberg

Psychologist who developed the Triarchic Theory of Intelligence (drew from the theories of Spearman and Thurstone); said that the underlying cognitive process is broken into metacomponents, performance components, and knowledge acquisition components

Analytical intelligence

According to Sternberg, the ability measured by most IQ tests; includes the ability to analyze problems and find correct answers. (book smart)

Practical intelligence

Sternberg- intelligence that is learned primarily by observing others and modeling their behavior

Creative intelligence

According to Sternberg, the form of intelligence that helps people see new relationships among concepts; involves insight and creativity.

Emotional Intelligence

The ability to perceive and express emotion, assimilate emotion in thought, understand and reason with emotion, and regulate emotion. Might be morr important than IQ. (EQ)

Glucose

Along with having neuron's fire faster and increased integration, higher performing brains usually use LESS glucose than average brains.

Alfred Binet

French Psychologist who published the first measure of intelligence in 1905. The purpose of his intelligence test was to correctly place students on academic tracks in the French school system.

Mental age

a measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; the chronological age that most typically corresponds to a given level of performance

Crystallized Intelligence

one's accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age

Fluid Intelligence

our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood

IQ

intelligence quotient; created by Lewis Terman based off of Binet's concept of mental age; numerical value given to intelligence that is determined from the scores on an intelligence test; average score is 100; MA/CA X 100 = IQ

Lewis Terman

revised Binet's IQ test and established norms for American children; tested group of young geniuses and followed in a longitudinal study that lasted beyond his own lifetime to show that high IQ does not necessarily lead to wonderful things in life

Aptitude

capacity for learning; natural ability

Achievement

something done successfully; something gained by working or trying hard

Achievement Test

a test designed to assess what a person has learned

Aptitude Test

a test designed to predict a person's future performance

Standardized

administered to large groups of people under uniform conditions to establish norms

Reliability

the extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, on alternate forms of the test, or on retesting

Validity

the ability of a test to measure what it is intended to measure

Bell Curve

the plot of frequencies obtained for many psychological tests; most people's scores are in the middle range, and the decline in frequencies is similar whether scores get higher or lower than the mean.

Flynn Effect

A worldwide increase in IQ scores over the last several decades, at a rate of about 3 points per decade, makes it necessary to renorm tests

Content Validity

the extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest (such as a driving test that samples driving tasks).

Predictive Validity

The success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict; it is assessed by computing the correlation between test scores and the criterion behavior.

Test Bias

An undesirable characteristic of tests in which item content discriminates against certain students on the basis of socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, or gender.

Discrimination

the cognitive process whereby two or more stimuli are distinguished

Split Halves

A method of showing a test's reliability; involves dividing the test into halves

Intrinsic Motivation

a desire to perform a behavior for its own sake and to be effective

Extrinsic Motivation

A desire to perform a behavior due to promised rewards or threats of punishment.

Recall

the process of remembering (especially the process of recovering information by mental effort)

Recognition

a measure of memory in which the person need only identify items previously learned, as on a multiple-choice test.

Encoding

the processing of information into the memory system

Storage

The process by which information is maintained over a period of time

Retrieval

third stage of the memory process; in it stored memories are brought into consciousness

Primacy Effect

The tendency to show greater memory for information that comes first in a sequence.

Recency Effect

The tendency to show greater memory for information that comes last in a sequence.

Serial Positioning Effect

information at the beginning and at the end of a list is remembered better than material in the middle

Ebbinghaus

The Psychologist who created the "forgetting curve"- much of what we learn we may quickly forget, course of forgetting is initially rapid then levels off with time; learned lists of nonsense syllabus and measured how much he retained when relearning each lists

Ebbinghaus's Forgetting Curve

A forgetting curve that determines that we lose about 2/3 of information in first hour of learning; though the rate of forgetting levels off after a few days

Visual Encoding

the encoding of picture images

Acoustic Encoding

The encoding of sound, especially the sound of words.

Semantic Encoding

the encoding of meaning, including the meaning of words

Mood Congruent Memory

The tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one's current good or bad mood.

State Dependent Memory

The theory that information learned in a particular state of mind (e.g., depressed, happy, somber) is more easily recalled when in that same state of mind.

Flashbulb Memories

detailed memory for events surrounding a dramatic event that is vivid and remembered with confidence, 9/11 , JFK shooting

Elizabeth Loftus

Her research on memory construction and the misinformation effect created doubts about the accuracy of eye-witness testimony

Constructed Memory

suddenly recovered, perhaps after being repressed; sometimes true, but often very inaccurate, and leading questions often change the nature of the memory

Retroactive Interference

Situation in which information learned more recently hinders the recall of information learned previously

Proactive Interference

situation in which previously learned information hinders the recall of information learned more recently

Long Term Potentiation

An increase in a synapse's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation. Believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory, more firing better memory and better learning.

Narcissistic personality disorder

a personality disorder characterized by exaggerated ideas of self-importance and achievements; preoccupation with fantasies of success; arrogance

a vague unpleasant emotion that is experienced in anticipation of some (usually ill-defined) misfortune

Abnormal Psychology

The field of psychology concerned with the assessment, treatment, and prevention of maladaptive behavior.

interns syndrome

a tendency to diagnose one's self while studying any particular disorder

DSM-IV-TR

Abbrevation for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision; the book published by the American Psychiatric Association that describes the specific symptoms and diagnostic guidelines for different psychological disorders

Neurotic disorders

mental disorders in which a person does not have signs of brain abnormalities and does not display grossly irrational thinking or violate basic norms but does eperience subjective distress; a category dropped from DSM-III

neologisms

Made-up words that typically have only meaning to the individual who uses them. Typical of disorganized schizophrenic person

Psychotic Disorders

psychological disorders of thought and perception, characterized by inability to distinguish between real and imagined perceptions.

eclectic

selecting what seems best of various styles or ideas

David Rosenhan

A social psychologist that did a study in which healthy patients were admitted to psychiatric hospitals and diagnoses with schizophrenia; showed that once you are diagnosed with a disorder, the label, even when behavior indicates otherwise, is hard to overcome in a mental health setting

Rosenhan Study

study in which healthy individuals were admitted into mental hospitals after saying they were hearing voices. Once in, they acted normally and still were not labeled as impostors.

phobia

an anxiety disorder characterized by extreme and irrational fear of simple things or social situations

generalized anxiety disorder

an anxiety disorder characterized by chronic free-floating anxiety and such symptoms as tension or sweating or trembling of light-headedness or irritability etc that has lasted for more than six months

panic disorder

an anxiety disorder marked by unpredictable minutes-long episodes of intense dread in which a person experiences terror and accompanying chest pain, choking, or other frightening sensations

an anxiety disorder associated with serious traumatic events and characterized by such symptoms as survivor guilt, reliving the trauma in dreams, numbness and lack of involvement with reality, or recurrent thoughts and images

agoraphobia

a morbid fear of open spaces (as fear of being caught alone in some public place)

compulsions

repetitive behaviors or mental acts performed to reduce or prevent stress

Somatoform disorders in which a dramatic specific disability has no physical cause but instead seems related to psychological problems

psychogenic amnesia

this is when a person cannot remember things and no physiological basis for the disruption in memory can be identified

fugue

dissociative disorder in which a person forgets who who they are and leaves home to creates a new life

dissociative identity disorder

a rare dissociative disorder in which a person exhibits two or more distinct and alternating personalities. Also called multiple personality disorder.(DID)

Retrograde amnesia

loss of memory for events that occurred before the onset of amnesia; eg a soldier's forgetting events immediately before a shell burst nearby, injuring him

Anterograde amnesia

loss of memory for events that occur after the onset of the amnesia; eg, see in a boxer who suffers a severe blow to the head and loses memory for events after the blow

Major depression

disorder causing periodic disturbances in mood that affect concentration, sleep, activity, appetite, and social behavior; characterized by feelings of worthlessness, fatigue, and loss of interest

dysthymic disorder

a mood disorder involving a pattern of comparatively mild depression that lasts for at least two years

seasonal affective disorder

Controversial disorder in which a person experiences depression during winter months and improved mood during spring. Can be treated using phototherapy, using bright light and high levels of negative ions.

Affective Disorders

Conditions is which feelings of sadness or elation are excessive, and not realistic, given the person's life conditions.

mania

An intense or extreme enthusiasm or excitement.

Personality Disorders

psychological disorders characterized by inflexible and enduring behavior patterns that impair social functioning

Antisocial personality

personality who lacks a conscience, is emotionally shallow, impulsive, and selfish, and tends to manipulate others

Histrionic personality disorder

a personality disorder characterized by excessive emotionality and preoccupation with being the center of attention; emotional shallowness; overly dramatic behavior

Dependent personality disorder

personality disorder in which the person is unable to make choices and decisions independently and cannot tolerate being alone

Paranoid personality disorder

A personality disorder characterized by a pervasive distrust and suspiciousness of the motives of others without sufficient basis

Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder

personality disorder defined by a pervasive pattern of orderliness, perfectionism, and mental and interpersonal control. workaholics, intolerant of emotional behavior of other people.

Schizophrenia

group of disorders characterized by disorganized and delusional thinking, disturbed perceptions, and inappropriate emotions and actions

Positive Symptom

A symptom of schizophrenia, including thought disorder, delusions, and hallucinations

Delusions

false beliefs, often of persecution or grandeur, that may accompany psychotic disorders

delusions of grandeur

A false belief that one is a famous person or a powerful or important person who has some great knowledge, ability, or authority. Schizophrenia.

delusions of prosecution

belief that somebody is out to get you

Hallucinations

false sensory experiences, such as seeing something in the absence of an external visual stimulus

Inappropriate effect

Display of emotions that are unsuited to the situation; a symptom of schizophrenia.

Negative Symptom

symptom that reflects insufficient functioning, functions that have been lost (ex: social withdrawal, slowness of thought/speech)

Flat effect

Abnormality of mood and affect., lack of emotional response; no expression of feeling; voice monotonous and face immobile

Catatonia

a form of schizophrenia characterized by a tendency to remain in a fixed stuporous state for long periods

waxy flexibility

feature of catatonic schizophrenia in which people rigidly maintain the body position or posture in which they are placed by others

Paranoid Schizophrenia

type of schizophrenia characterized by hallucinations and delusions of persecution or grandeur (or both), and sometimes irrational jealousy.

an eating disorder in which a normal-weight person (usually an adolescent female) diets and becomes significantly (15 percent or more) underweight, yet, still feeling fat, continues to starve.

Bulimia Nervosa

an eating disorder characterized by episodes of overeating, usually of high-calorie foods, followed by vomiting, laxative use, fasting, or excessive exercise

Substance Abuses

misuse of drugs that damages an individual's health and ability to function

Purging

The use of vomiting, laxatives, excessive exercise, restrictive dieting, enemas, diuretics, or diet pills to compensate for food that has been eaten and that the person fears will produce weight gain

Binging

a period or bout, usually brief, of excessive indulgence, as in eating, drinking alcoholic beverages;bender, blast, jag, tear, bust, toot; orgy

ADHD

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, a psychological disorder marked by the appearance by age 7 of one or more of three key symptoms: extreme inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity

autism

a disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by deficient communication, social interaction, and understanding of others' states of mind

Impulsiveness

difficulty waiting turn, organizing, following throught, not due to clear cognitive impairment

Hyperactivity

a condition characterized by excessive restlessness and movement

Inattention

non-responsiveness to task demands

Endorphins

chemical inhibiting the transmission of pain, often experienced during exercise, i.e. "runner's high"; discovered in 1970s when trying to find out how opiates were (morphine, heroin);

Neurons

Individual cells in the nervous system that receive, integrate, and transmit information in electrical and chemical forms. Are the fundamental building blocks of the nervous system. COMPOSED OF THE CELL BODY(soma), AXON, AXON Hillock, and Dendrite

Dendrites

the bushy, branching extensions of a neuron that RECIEVE messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body

Soma

the cell body of the neuron responsible for maintaining the life of the cell

Axon

the extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, through which messages ARE GIVEN to other neurons or to muscles or glands

Axon Hillock

The conical region of a neuron's axon where it joins the cell body; typically the region where nerve signals is generated.

Neurotransmitters

chemical messengers that traverse the synaptic gaps between neurons. When released by the sending neuron, neurotransmitters travel across the synapse and bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron, thereby influencing whether that neuron will generate a neural impulse.

Synapse

the junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron

Myelin Sheath

a layer of fatty tissue segmentally encasing the fibers of many neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed of neural impulses as the impulse hops from one node to the next

resting potential

An electrical potential established across the plasma membrane of all cells by the Na+/K+ ATPase and the K+ leak channels. IN most cells, the resting membrane potential is approximately -70 mV with respect to the outside of the cell.

action potential

A neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon. is generated by the movement of positively charged atoms in and out of channels in the axon's membrane

threshold potential

The minimum potential shift at which an action potential is initiated (around -50mV usually).

axon terminal

terminal button, synaptic knob; the structure at the end of an excellent terminal branch; houses the synaptic vesicles and neurotransmitters

reuptake

A process in which neurotransmitters are sponged up from the synaptic cleft by the presynaptic membrane

Acetylcholine

the neurotransmitter substance that is released at the synapses of parasympathetic nerves and at neuromuscular junctions, enabling learning and memory and most prominately triggers muscle contraction, lack of it is linked to Alzheimer's

Dopamine

neurotransmitter that influences voluntary movement, attention, alertness; lack of dopamine linked with Parkinson's disease; too much is linked with schizophrenia

Serotonin

a neurotransmitter that affects hunger,sleep,arousal,and mood. appears in lower than normal levels in depressed persons

Agonists

chemical substances that mimic or enhance the effects of a neurotransmitter on the receptor sites of the next cell, increasing or decreasing the activity of that cell

Antagonists

chemical substances that block or reduce a cell's response to the action of other chemicals or neurotransmitters

Reuptake Inhibitors

a drug that blocks the recycling of the neurotransmitter, thus making more of the neurotransmitter available at the synapse. This has the effect of leaving the neurotransmitter in the synaptic cleft for a longer period of time, and makes the neurotransmitter have a greater effect. Example: Cocaine for Dopamine

psychoactive drugs

Chemical substances that influence the brain, altering consciousness and producing psychological changes. These drugs usually work via the neurotransmitters. Cross the blood brain barrier

Psychedelic ("mind-manifesting") drugs, such as LSD, PCP, METH, or Heroin that distort perceptions and evoke sensory images in the absence of sensory input.

reverse tolerance

a drug user's experiencing the desired effects from lesser amounts of the same drug(usually Hallucinogens)

Afferent Neurons

Neurons that transmit messages from sense organs to the central nervous system. Also called sensory neurons

Efferent Neurons

Nerves that carry impulses away from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles and glands. Also called motor neurons.

Interneurons

Central nervous system neurons that internally communicate( and intervene between the sensory inputs and motor outputs

Peripheral Nervous System

The section of the nervous system lying outside the brain and spinal cord. Composed of the Somatic Nervous System (SNS) and the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)

Central Nervous Systems

Division of the nervous system that consists of the brain and spinal cord

Autonomic Nervous System

The part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs (such as the heart). Its sympathetic division arouses; its parasympathetic division calms.

Somatic Nervous System

The part of the peripheral nervous system that controls voluntary movement of skeletal muscles. (Volantary )

Parasympathetic division

the part of the autonomic nervous system that monitors the routine operations of the internal organs and returns the body to calmer functioning after arousal by the sympathetic division

Sympathetic division

a branch of the autonomic nervous system and prepares the body for quick action in emergencies; fight or flight; busiest when frightened, angry, or aroused; increases heart rate, increases breathing rate, enlarges pupils, stops digestion; connects to all internal organs; sudden reaction

fight or flight response

a physical reaction triggered by the sympathetic nervous system preparing the body to fight or run from a threatening situation

Glial cells

Greek for glue; forms myelin sheath; holds neuron in place; provides nourishment and removes waste; prevents harmful substances from entering bloodstream; may play important role in memory and learning; affects brain's response to new experiences, support and protect and an regenerate new neurons.

Brain Plasticity

the ability of other parts of the brain to take over functions of damaged regions(Reroutes dendrites to avoid damaged areas. Declines as hemispheres of the cerebral cortex lateralize.

Phineas Gage

Vermont railroad worker who survived a severe brain injury that changed his personality and behavior; his accident gave information on the brain and which parts are involved with emotional reasoning

lesion

any destruction or damage to brain tissue

Electroencephalogram

an amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity that sweep across the brain's surface. These waves are measured by electrodes placed on the scalp.

frontal lobotomy

an operation which involved sectioning or removing portions of the frontal lobes in an attempt to treat cases of bipolar mood disorder or chronic pain, later shown to be largely ineffective as a therapeutic procedure

Computerized Axial Tomography

a method of examining body organs by scanning them with X rays and using a computer to construct a series of cross-sectional scans along a single axis (CAT)

Magnetic Resonance Imaging

a technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer-generated images that distinguish among different types of soft tissue; allows us to see structures within the brain. (MRI)

alpha waves

the relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state.

delta waves

the large, slow brain waves associated with deep sleep.

Positron Emission Tomography

technique combining nuclear medicine and computed tomography to produce images of brain anatomy and corresponding physiology; used to study stroke, Alzheimer disease, epilepsy, metabolic brain disorders, greater accuracy than SPECT but is used less often because of cost and limited availability of the radioisotopes

part of the brain involved in sleep regulation (dreams) also connects a cerebellum to the cerebral cortex; sleep and wake cycles and involved in facial expressions.

Cerebellum

the "little brain" attached to the rear of the brainstem; its functions include processing sensory input and coordinating movement output and balance

Midbrain

the middle division of brain responsible for hearing and sight; location where pain is registered; includes temporal lobe, occipital lobe, and most of the parietal lobe, also includes most importantly the reticular formation.

Reticular Formation

a network of cells in the brainstem that filters sensory information and is involved in arousal and alertness. If it were cut off you would fall in a coma FOREVER, but if it were stimulated you would wake up and not be tired.

Forebrain

top of the brain which includes the thalamus, hypothalamus, and cerebral cortex; responsible for emotional regulation, complex thought, memory aspect of personality

Thalamus

the brain's sensory switchboard, located on top of the brainstem; it directs messages to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla

Limbic System

a doughnut-shaped system of neural structures at the border of the brainstem and cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions such as fear and aggression and drives such as those for food and sex. Includes the hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus.

Hypothalamus

a neural structure lying BELOW the thalamus; directs eating, drinking, body temperature; helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland, and is linked to emotion

Hippocampus

a complex neural structure located in the limbic system (shaped like a sea horse) consisting of gray matter and located on the floor of each lateral ventricle that helps process explicit memories for storage

Amygdala

two almond-shaped neural clusters that are components of the limbic system and are linked to emotion

Cerebral Cortex

the intricate fabric of interconnected unmyelinated neural cells that covers the cerebral hemispheres; the body's ultimate control and information processing center, lots of fissures, is WHAT makes us human. Divides into the left and right hemispheres.

The typical pattern in vertebrates in which movements of the right side of the body are controlled by the left hemisphere, while movements of the left side are controlled by the right hemisphere.

LEFT hemisphere

the cerebral hemisphere to the left of the corpus callosum that controls the right half of the body, hemisphere of brain that specializes in speaking, calculating, logic, language processing (concrete)

RIGHT hemisphere

the cerebral hemisphere to the right of the corpus callosum that controls the left half of the body, hemisphere of brain that specializes in visual-spatial processing and quick thinking (abstract)

corpus callosum

the large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them (Again it is bigger in Girls than in Guys, important in Gender Development). Loss of this will lead to split brain patients

split brain patients

individuals who have had the corpus callosum surgically severed, usually as a treatment for severe epilepsy

association areas

areas of the cerebral cortex that are not involved in primary motor or sensory functions; rather, they are involved in higher mental functions such as learning, remembering, thinking, and speaking

Broca's Area

controls language expression - an area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech

Frontal Lobes

the portion of the cerebral cortex lying just behind the forehead; involved in speaking and muscle movements and in making plans and judgments

Motor Cortex

an area at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movements. The top of the motor cortex controls the bottom of our body and the bottom of the cortex controls the top of our body.

Parietal Lobes

the portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the head and toward the rear; receives sensory input for touch and body position

Sensory Cortex

Located in the front of the parietal lobe (directly behind the sensory cortex in the frontal lobe), this structure is responsible for us feeling touch sensations from our body. Every time you feel a type of touch sensations (both pleasurable and pain) the information is sent up by sensory neurons to the thalamus and sent to the sensory cortex so we can feel it. Strangly the top part of it controls the bottom half of the body and the bottom half controls the top half of our body

Broca's Aphasia

An aphasia associated with damage to the Broca's area of the brain, demonstrated by the impairment in producing understandable speech.

Occipital Lobes

the portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the back of the head; includes the visual areas, which receive visual information from the opposite visual field.

primary visual cortex

The region of the cerebral cortex that receives information directly from the visual system; located in the occipital lobe

Wernicke's Area

controls language reception - a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobe

Temporal Lobes

the portion of the cerebral cortex lying roughly above the ears; includes the auditory areas, each of which receives auditory information primarily from the opposite ear.

pituitary gland

The endocrine system's most influential gland. Under the influence of the hypothalamus, the pituitary regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands.

sex hormones

hormone produced in the adrenal cortex that targets the gonads, skin, muscles, and bones to stimulate reproductive organs and bring about sex characteristics

melatonin

hormone produced in the pineal gland that targets the brain to control circadian rhythms and circannual rhythms, and may be involved in maturation of sex organs

androgens

Support sperm formation; development and maintenance of male secondary sex characteristics

ovaries

The female gonads, paired almond-sized organs located in the pelvic cavity, and produce two steroid hormone groups the estrogns and pregesterone. The endocrine and exocrine functions do not begin until the onset of puberty.

progesterone

responsible for the development of female secondary sex characteristics and the regulation of reproduction

estrogen

a general term for female steroid sex hormones that are secreted by the ovary and responsible for typical female sexual characteristics

Sensation

the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment.

Perception

the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events.

Transduction

conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, the transforming of stimulus energies, such as sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses our brains can interpret.

sensory adaptation

reduced responsiveness caused by prolonged stimulation

cornea

transparent anterior portion of the outer covering of the eye

pupil

the adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters

iris

a ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil and controls the size of the pupil opening

lens

the transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina

accommodation

the visual process by which lenses become rounded for viewing nearby objects and flatter for viewing remote objects

retina

the light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of visual information.

cones

retinal receptor cells that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions. The cones detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations.

area consisting of a small depression in the retina containing cones and where vision is most acute

bipolar cells

second layer of neurons in the retina that transmit impulses from rods and cones to ganglion cells

ganglion cells

the specialized cells which lie behind the bipolar cells whose axons form the optic nerve which takes the information to the brain

blind spot

the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a "blind" spot because no receptor cells are located there

feature detectors

nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movement.

Trichromatic theory

Visual theory, stated by Young and Helmholtz that all colors can be made by mixing the three basic colors: red, green, and blue; a.k.a the Young-Helmholtz theory.

afterimage

an image (usually a negative image) that persists after stimulation has ceased

Opponent-Process Theory

the theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision. For example, some cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red; others are stimulated by red and inhibited by green

absolute threshold

the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time

difference threshold

the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time. We experience the difference threshold as a just noticeable difference.

Weber's Law

the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount) 10 % for weight , 5% hearing and 8 % vision

Signal Detection Theory

a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus ("signal") amid background stimulation ("noise"). Assumes there is no single absolute threshold and detection depends partly on a person's experience, expectations, motivation, and level of fatigue.

false positive

error of recognition in which people think that they recognize some stimulus that is not actually in memory

false negative

Not perceiving a stimulus that is present

Top-Down Processing

information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations.

perceptual set

a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another.

Bottom-Up Processing

Analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information.

figure-ground relationship

A Gestalt principle of perceptual organization that states that we automatically separate the elements of a perception into the feature that clearly stands out and its less distinct background.

Proximity

a Gestalt principle of organization holding that (other things being equal) objects or events that are near to one another (in space or time) are perceived as belonging together as a unit

Similarity

a Getalt principle of organization holding that (other things being equal) parts of a stimulus field that are similar to each other tend to be perceived as belonging together as a unit

Continuity

a Gestalt psychology principle which states that the observer tends to see a line or shap as continuing in a particular direction rather than making a turn

Closure

a Gestalt principle of organization holding that there is an innate tendency to perceive incomplete objects as complete and to close or fill gaps and to perceive asymmetric stimuli as symmetric

Size Constancy

the tendency to perceive the vertical size of a familiar object despite differences in their distance (and consequent differences in the size of the pattern projected on the retina of the eye)

Shape Constancy

the tendency to perceive the shape of a rigid object as constant despite differences in the viewing angle (and consequent differences in the shape of the pattern projected on the retina of the eye)

Brightness Constancy

the tendency for a visual object to be perceived as having the same brightness under widely different conditions of illumination

Visual Constancy

our tendency to perceive objects as keeping their size, shape, and color even though the image that strikes our retina changes from moment to moment.

E.J. Gibson

Psychologist famous(along with Richard WalK) for his VISUAL CLIFF EXPERIMENT: used to determine whether infants could perceive depth; infant placed on glass table to create appearance of a cliff, found that infant won't crawl across-it has depth perception

visual cliff experiment

Eleanor Gibson and Richard Walk placed infants of various ages on a fabric-covered runway that ran across the center of a clever device called a visual cliff. The visual cliff consists of a sheet of plexiglas that covers a cloth with a high-contrast checkerboard pattern. On one side the cloth is placed immediately beneath the plexiglas, and on the other, it is dropped about 4 feet below. Since the plexiglas alone would easily support the infant, this is a visual cliff rather than an actual cliff. In the Gibson and Walk study, the majority of infants who had begun to crawl refused to venture onto the seemingly unsupported surface, even when their mothers beckoned encouragingly from the other side.

monocular cues

depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspective, available to either eye alone

binocular cues

depth cues, such as retinal disparity and convergence, that depend on the use of two eyes

Interposition

monocular visual cue in which two objects are in the same line of vision and one patially conceals the other, indicating that the first object concealed is further away

The monocular cue that states that if an object seems larger, it is probably closer, and if an object is smaller, it is probably distant.

Linear perspective

a monocular cue for perceiving depth; the more parallel lines converge, the greater their perceived distance

Retinal Disparity

a binocular cue for perceiving depth: By comparing images from the two eyeballs, the brain computes distance—the greater the disparity (difference) between the two images, the closer the object.

Convergence

a binocular cue for perceiving depth; the extent to which the eyes converge inward when looking at an object, the more of this the closer the object

psychopharmacology

the study of the effects of drugs on the mind and behavior, also called drug therapy or chemotherapy

Thorazine

An antipsychotic drug(along with Haldol) thought to block receptor sites for dopamine, making it effective in treating the delusional thinking, hallucinations and agitation commonly associated with schizophrenia. May lead to tardive dyskinesia.

tardive dyskinesia

involuntary movements of the facial muscles, tongue, and limbs; a possible neurotoxic side effect of long-term use of antipsychotic drugs(Haldol, Thorazine) that target D2 dopamine receptors, kinda like Parkinson's

tricyclic antidepressants

Drugs used for treating depression, as well as in chronic pain management and in the treatment of ADHD, Examples: (Adapin or Elavil), monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors (Nardil or Marplan) and serotonin reuptake inhibitors drugs (Prozac)

Prozac

An antidepressant drug that blocks the reabsorption and removal of serotonin fron synapses, a selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitor commonly prescribed as an antidepressant

Lithium

a metal that provides an effective drug therapy for the mood swings of bipolar disorders

Valium

A Drug that can be used(along with Xanax) post delivery after a HARD labor or in very early stages, had anesthesia effect and decreases anxiety

electroconvulsive therapy

a biomedical therapy for severely depressed patients in which a brief electric current is sent through the brain of an anesthetized patient, Sometimes works (Dont Know WHY) Most likely because of increased blood flow(Maybe)

psychosurgery

surgery that removes or destroys brain tissue in an effort to change behavior

prefrontal lobotomy

a surgical procedure in which the connections between the prefrontal lobes and the rest of the brain are cut as a treatment for mental illness(ONLY good if YOU LOVE BEING A VEGGIE)

IQ

intelligence quotient; created by Lewis Terman based off of Binet's concept of mental age; numerical value given to intelligence that is determined from the scores on an intelligence test; average score is 100; MA/CA X 100 = IQ

Hydrocephaly

Enlargement of the cranium caused by abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid within the ventricles of the cerebral system, tends to cause bulging eyes and most prominently mental retardation.

Rorschach inkblot test

The most widely used projective test, a set of 10 inkblots, designed by Hermann Rorschach; seeks to identify people's inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots

Group tests

intelligence tests administered by one examiner to many people at one time

Mental Age

a measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; the chronological age that most typically corresponds to a given level of performance. Thus, a child who does as well as the average 8-year-old is said to have a mental age of 8.

Chronological Age

the actual age of the child taking the intelligence test

Binet

French psychologist who wanted to identify French schoolchildren needing special attention; devised 'mental age'

Lewis Terman

Standford Professor who revised Binet's IQ test and established norms for American children; tested group of young geniuses and followed in a longitudinal study that lasted beyond his own lifetime to show that high IQ does not necessarily lead to wonderful things in life

Metacognitive skills

The student's skills where he is aware of whether or not his mind is engaged when he is reading, whether or not he understands what is being read, and what further strategies he needs to employ to gain meaning from the page.

Experiential intelligence

A component of Sternberg's Triarchic theory; AKA creative intelligence; refers to the ability to adjust to new tasks, use new concepts, combine information in novel ways, respond effectively in new situations, gain insight and adapt creatively.

Robert Sternberg

Proposed the triarchic theory that divides intelligence into three types: compnential, experiential, and contextual

triarchic theory

Robert Sternberg's theory of intelligence that suggests that there are three aspects to intelligence: componential (e.g., performance on tests), experiential (creativity) and contextual (street smarts/business sense).

Speed of processing

the speed at which elementary information-processing tasks (such as reaction-time tests) can be carried out. This speed improves as children grow older.

familial retardation

Is usually mild and lacks an obvious genetic or environmental cause; it results from a complex interaction between heredity and environment

mere-exposure effect

the phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them.

LaPiere

Psychologist who found that behavior conflicts with cognition.1934, conducted an early study that illustrated the difference between attitudes and behaviors.A classic study of attitude-behavior consistency: This man toured the United States in 1934 with a Chinese couple, stopping at hotels and restaurants along the way. They were refused service at only one establishment. However, 92% of the institutions later said in a letter that they would refuse to accept Chinese people as guests. Hotel employees may have biases based on secondhand information. When they see them up close, their biases go away. Social norm: you don't want to look bad in front of a caucasian person.

Cognitive Dissonance theory

the theory that we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent. For example, when our awareness of our attitudes and of our actions clash, we can reduce the resulting dissonance by changing our attitudes

norms of reciprocity

people's tendency to think that when someone does something nice for them, they ought to do something nice in return

Piaget

Swiss psychologist who says children's cognitive development depends on their ability to organize, classify, and to adapt to their environments

Object permanence

recognition that things continue to exist even though hidden from sight; infants generally gain this after 3 to 7 months of age (Piaget)

Weschler

He published the first high-quality IQ test designed for adults-Weschler-Adult Intelligence Scale-made test less dependent on verbal ability-formalized the computation of separate scores for verbal IQ, performance( nonverbal), and full scale IQ-new scoring scheme based on normal distribution

Flynn effect

Term used to describe the steady and consistent rise in IQ test performance over time (approximately 3 points per decade) . Thought to be caused mostly by the environment. Because of this, IQ tests are periodically "renormed"

crystallized intelligence

One's accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age

fluid intelligence

One's ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood.

Charles Spearman

an english psychologist, known for his work in statistics,he argued that intelligence can be expressed by a single factor. He used factor analysis, a statistical technique that takes multiple items and meshes them into one number, to show that intelligence can be a single number he simply called g (generalized intelligence)

Spearman's g.

a general intelligence factor that, according to Spearman and others, underlies specific mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test

Howard Gardner

Harvard researcher that has identified at least eight types of intelligences: linguistic, logical/mathematical, bodily/kinesthetic, musical, spatial (visual), interpersonal (the ability to understand others), intrapersonal (the ability to understand oneself), and naturalist (the ability to recognize fine distinctions and patterns in the natural world).

Linguistic intelligence

The sensitivity to words and their connotations. The ability to influence others and manipulate.

Logical-mathematical intelligence

The ability to detect patterns, reason deductively and think logically. Most often associated with scientific and mathematical thinking

Musical intelligence

The ability to read, understand, and compose musical pitches, tones, and rhythms. Auditory functions are required for a person to develop this intelligence for pitch and tone, but it is not needed for the knowledge of rhythm

Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence

control of one's bodily motions and capacity to handle objects skillfully

Spatial intelligence

The ability to use images that represent spatial relations (for example, imagining whether a new sofa will fit in your living room)

Interpersonal intelligence

The ability to apprehend the feelings and intentions of others.

Intrapersonal intelligence

The ability to understand one's own feelings and motivations.

nature intelligence

measured by presentation of specific tasks that measure general and specific abilities

Component of Sternberg's Triarchic theory; AKA creative intelligence; refers to the ability to adjust to new tasks, use new concepts, combine information in novel ways, respond effectively in new situations, gain insight and adapt creatively.

analytical intelligence

According to Sternberg, the ability measured by most IQ tests; includes the ability to analyze problems and find correct answers. (book smart)

practical intelligence

according to Sternberg, the ability to cope with the environment; sometimes called "street smarts"

Daniel Goleman

Thought of Emotional Intelligence : able to manage own emotions, is capable of self-motivation and self direction, recognizes emotions in others, and is able to handle various types of relationships.

Emotional intelligence

The ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions, involves Gardner's interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence and also known as EQ. (David Goleman). Studies actually show that having a higher EQ IS BETTER THAN HAVING A HIGHER Iq (at least in terms of money)

Reliability

the extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, on alternate forms of the test, or on retesting

validity

The extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to.

test-retest

method examines how well people's scores from 2 different testing occasions are correlated

split halves

A method of showing a test's reliability; involves dividing the test into halves

Spearman-Brown formula

In psychometrics, a methematical formula that predicts the degree to which the reliability of a test can be improved by adding more items. The longer the test the more reliable it is .

predictive validity

The success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict; it is assessed by computing the correlation between test scores and the criterion behavior.

face /content validity,

Form of validity where a researcher determines if the measure appears to be measuring the appropriate construct by examining the specific questions.

aptitude tests

Tests that measure the general ability or capacity to learn or acquire a new skill.

achievement tests

Tests that gauge a person's mastery and knowledge of various subjects. (AP, ACT, SAT)

Speed tests

Timed test; difficulty is more in how quickly questions can be answered than in the content.

Power tests

Tests where people are given significant amounts of time to finish the work, but the questions become increasingly more difficult.

Individual tests

Tests administered to a single person at a time; interaction between the examiner and examinee is great. (Rorschach inkblot test)

Hermann Rorschach

A psychoanalyst psychologist who developed one of the first projective tests, the Inkblot test which consists of 10 standardized inkblots where the subject tells a story, the observer then derives aspects of the personality from the subject's commentary

factor analysis

a statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items (called factors) on a test; used to identify different dimensions of performance that underlie one's total score(Spearman)

microcephaly

Condition in which the head is unusually small as a result of defective brain development( 2 Standard Deviations below the Mean) premature ossification of the skull

A condition of retardation and associated physical disorders caused by an extra chromosome in one's genetic makeup (21)

organic retardation

Mental retardation because of some identifiable biological cause associated with hereditary factors, diseases, or injuries. Contrast with cultural-familial retardation.

Eugenics

the study of methods of improving genetic qualities by selective breeding (especially as applied to human mating)

PKU

A human metabolic disease caused by a mutation in a gene coding for a phenylalanine processing enzyme (phenylalanine hydroxylase), which leads to accumulation of phenylalanine and mental retardation if not treated; inherited as an autosomal recessive phenotype.

Savant

A person of low intelligence who has an extraordinary ability

savant syndrome

a condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill, such as in computation or drawing

Zimbardo

Performed prison simulation and used concept of deindividuation to explain results, When one takes on a role, they will often change their behavior in order to fit the perceived set of expectations for that role.

External cause

a cause of behavior that is assumed to lie outside a person

Internal cause

a cause of behavior that is assumed to lie within a person- for instance, a need, preference, or personality trait.

Solomon Asch

Performed famous study on conformity in which people gave an obviously incorrect answer just to conform to the group - length of line study.howed the subjects three vertical lines of varying sizes and asked them to indicate which one was the same length as a different target line.

William Wundt

father of psychology, first psychology research lab in Leipzig, Germany; research on workings of senses; applied scientific method to psychology; used Introspection

Positive psychology

the scientific study of optimal human functioning; aims to discover and promote strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive

Reminiscence bump

the enhanced memory of people over 40yrs old for events from adolescence and early adulthood, compared to other periods of their lives

Schachter

Studied the relationship between anxiety and the need for affiliation; The greater the anxiety the greater desire to affiliate ,Developed "Two-Factor" theory of emotion; experiments on spillover effect

Spillover effect

when one emotion continues from one situation to another; more happy about getting job after running as opposed to just waking up

Deindividuation

the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity.

group prejudice

Prejudice held out of conformity to group views

personal prejudice

Prejudicial attitudes held toward persons who are perceived as a direct threat to one's own interests

groupthink

the mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives

Janis

Psychologist who developed the concept of groupthink to explain how group decision making can sometimes go awry Example: Bay of Pigs.

focus group

a small group of people who meet under the direction of a discussion leader to communicate their opinions about an organization, its products, or other given issues.

personal identification

the target person imitates the agents behavior or adopts the same attitudes to please the agents and the be like the agent

reference group

any group that individuals use as a standard for evaluating themselves and their own behavior

Stanford Prison study

A social psychological study conducted at Stanford University by Philip Zimbardo. Its aim was to study the impact of roles on behavior. Participants were randomly assigned to play the role of either prisoner or guard. This study was terminated early because of the role-induced punitive behavior on the part of the "guards."

The Lucifer Effect

Created by Philip Zimbardo. Demonstrated that ordinary people could behave in "evil" ways under the right circumstances.

Milgram experiment

A series of psychological experiments which measured the willingness of study participants to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts that conflicted with their personal conscience.(1961)

Milgram

studied obedience by asking subjects to administer electroshock; also proposed stimulus-overload theory to explain differences between city and country dwellers

stimulus overload

a reaction to the plethora of noises, sounds, sights, and other stimuli that bombard the senses simultaneously

Scapegoating

blaming an innocent person or a group for one's own troubles

theory of cognitive dissonance

theory based on the premise that a state of tension is created when beliefs or behaviors conflict with one another; people are motivated to reduce this inconsistency (or dissonance) and thus eliminate unpleasant tension

superordinate goal

a shared goal that necessitates cooperative effort; a goal that overrides people's differences from one another

fundamental attribution

The tendency to attribute other people's behavior primarily to internal factors such as personality, attitudes, and free will is known as the ( ) error.

evolutionary psychology

the study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection.

self-disclosure

revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others.

Donnerstein

Psychologist who showed men shown neutral, erotic, or rape film. Men shown the rape film administered greater shocks to females who made mistakes in nonsense tasks.

indoctrination

teaching someone to accept an idea or principle without question

Aggression

violent action that is hostile and usually unprovoked

Attribution theory

the theory that we tend to give a casual explanation for someone's behavior, often by crediting either the situation or the person's disposition

frustration-aggression hypothesis

argues aggression comes from built up frustration (or any stress) triggered by an environmental aggression cue

The tendency of a person who has refused a major request to subsequently be more likely to comply with a minor request.

the halo effect

refers to the overall positive evaluation of a worker based on one known positive characteristic or action.

The sleeper effect

A psychological phenomenon whereby a highly persuasive message, paired with a discounting cue, causes an individual to be more persuaded by the message over time.

Intensification

Give the impression of having stronger feelings than one really has.

Credibility Factor

the factor applied in ratemaking to adjust for the predictive value of loss data and used to minimize the variations in the rates that result from purely chance variations in losses

low-ball technique

A tactic for getting people to agree to something. People who agree to an initial request will often still comply when the requester ups the ante. People who receive only the costly request are less likely to comply with it.

foot-in-the-door effect

technique to ensure conformity; strategy that states once a person grants a small request, they are more likely to comply with a larger one; Example: once a sales pitch begins the odds of the sale increase because the individual is listening to the request

gain-loss theory

people act in order to obtain gain and avoid loss; people feel MOST favorably toward situations that start out negatively but end positively (even when compared to completely positive situations)

reciprocity

the principle that people tend to like others who like them back

complementary need theory

we're attracted to others for what they can provide for us- Exchange of skills between you and another person - Working together is better than being alone- How do you balance each other out?

social exchange theory

the theory that our social behavior is an exchange process, the aim of which is to maximize benefits and minimize costs

social comparison theory

Theory that we seek to evaluate our beliefs, attitudes, and abilities by comparing our reactions with others'

Projection

psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which people disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others

role

a set of expectations about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave

Secure attachment

a relationship in which an infant obtains both comfort and confidence from the presence of his or her caregiver

Ambivalent attachment

Pattern in which an infant becomes anxious before the primary caregiver leaves, is extremely upset during his or her absence, and both seeks and resists contact on his or her return.

Avoidant attachment

infants who seem unresponsive to the parent when they are present, are usually not distressed when she leaves, and avoid the parent when they return

norming

the stage of group development during which the group solidifies its rules for behavior, especially those that relate to how conflict will be managed

social contract

the notion that society is based on an agreement between government and the governed in which people agree to give up some rights in exchange for the protection of others

standardization

defining meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested group.

social trap

a situation in which the conflicting parties, by each rationally pursuing their self-interest, become caught in mutually destructive behavior

self-handicapping

the strategy whereby people create obstacles and excuses for themselves so that if they do poorly on a task, they can avoid blaming themselves

personal space

Usually 18 inches to 4 feet, the buffer zone we like to maintain around our bodies

Need for affiliation

desire to associate with others, to be part of a group, to form close and intimate relationships

Proxemics

the study of spatial distances between individuals in different cultures and situations

socialization

the adoption of the behavior patterns of the surrounding culture

attitudes

Patterns of feelings and beliefs about other people, ideas, or objects that are based on a person's past experiences, shape his or her future behavior, and are evaluative in nature.

stereotypes

Attributions that cover up individual differences and ascribe certain characteristics to an entire group of people

cognitive dissonance

The theory that we act to reduce the discomfort we feel when two of our thoughts are inconsistent. For example, when our awareness of our attitudes and our actions clash, we can reduce the resulting dissonance by changing our attitudes.

role modeling

The use of self as a role model often overlooked as an instructional method, whereby the learner acquires new behaviors and social roles by identification with the role model.

jigsaw classrooms

educational approach designed to minimize prejudice by requiring all children to make independent contributions to a shared project

ascribed roles

Roles that people are born into or that are thrust on them without any effort or desire on their own particular

Desensitization

a process by which viewers of media violence develop callousness or emotional neutrality in the face of a real-life act of violence

role diffusion

Erikson's term for lack of clarity in one's life roles (due to failure to develop ego identity).

role conflict

the situation that occurs when incompatible expectations arise from two or more social positions held by the same person

believing in the superiority of one's own ethnic and cultural group, and having a corresponding disdain for all other groups

Cohesiveness

The degree of attraction members have to each other and to the group's goal

social posturing

behavior that establishes the degree to which an individual belongs to a particular-often socially desired group. This can also reflect an individuals "staus" in a given social hierarchy

mannerisms

a gesture or way of speaking which is a characteristic of a person.

achieved roles

Roles that individuals assume after some effort or achievement.

Jane Elliot

A 3rd grade Iowa teacher who in response to assassination of MLK, she divided her class into blue eyes and brown eyes, brown eyes felt inferior to blue eyes, group favoritism, and racism

Overdisclosure

self-disclosure that excees what is appropriate for a relationship or social situation

Brainwashing

the most extreme form of attidude change, accompanied through peer pressure, physical suffering, threats, rewards for compliance, manipulating of guilt, intensive indoctrination, & other psychological means.

downward comparison

comparing yourself with those who are not as good as yourself although our performance or lives are not ideal... it could be worse

Upward comparison

Comparing yourself with people who do much better than you; can sometimes inspire us to do better and sometimes lower self esteem

Sociology

The scholarly discipline concerned with the systematic study of social organizations.

Social psychology

the branch of psychology that studies persons and their relationships with others and with groups and with society as a whole

evolutionary attachment

Bowlby's theory of attachment as an innate process ensuring survival

evolutionary psychology

the study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection.

interpersonal attraction

The tendency of one person to evaluate another person (or a symbol or image of another person) in a positive way.

mutual exclusivity

a cognitive bias shown by young children, who typically avoid labeling anything at more than one level of generalityEX. refer to pet as a dog but not as an animal as well

mutual interdependence

The situation that exists when two or more groups need each other and must depend on each other to accomplish a goal that is important to each of them

culture

norms of reciprocity

people's tendency to think that when someone does something nice for them, they ought to do something nice in return

LaPiere

Psychologist who found that behavior conflicts with cognition.1934, conducted an early study that illustrated the difference between attitudes and behaviors.A classic study of attitude-behavior consistency: This man toured the United States in 1934 with a Chinese couple, stopping at hotels and restaurants along the way. They were refused service at only one establishment. However, 92% of the institutions later said in a letter that they would refuse to accept Chinese people as guests. Hotel employees may have biases based on secondhand information. When they see them up close, their biases go away. Social norm: you don't want to look bad in front of a caucasian person.

Piaget

Swiss psychologist who says children's cognitive development depends on their ability to organize, classify, and to adapt to their environments, also object permanence.

Object permanence

recognition that things continue to exist even though hidden from sight; infants generally gain this after 3 to 7 months of age (Piaget)

prejudice

an opinion or strong feeling formed without careful thought or regard to the facts

discrimination

unjustifiable negative behavior(involving an action acting opun a prejudice) toward a group or its members

out-groups

groups other than those with which one identifies

in-group

a social group toward which a member feels respect and loyalty

out-group homogeneity

tendency to view all individuals outside our group as highly similar. Ex: view all michigan fans as stupid.

in-group bias

tendency to favor individuals within our group over those from outside our group. Ex: help Texas person on side of road but not if from michigan

contact theory

if members of two opposing groups are brought together in an emergency situation, group cooperation will reduce prejudicial thinking.

dispositional attribution

belief that one's behavior is due to long-lasting personality traits rather than the current environment.

situational attribution

belief that an individual's behavior is based on events in the environment rather than long-lasting personality characteristics.

collectivistic cultures

Collectivistic cultures socialize people to think of themselves in terms of group goals, values and identity rather than personal or individual goals, values, etc. e.g. Asian or tribal cultures

individualistic cultures

Cultures in which a person's identity focuses on themselves as an individual ( e.g. United State and Canada). Also called independent cultures. This is where the FUNDAMENTAL ATTRIBUTION ERROR happens more frequently when compared to collectivistic cultures.

false-consensus effect

the tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors

Self-serving bias

tendency often in individualistic cultures to attribute our own successes to dispositional factors and our own failures to situational factors

Rosenthal

A Psychologist along with Jacobson famous for his research regarding the "experimenter effect", study on self-fulfilling prophecy with students expected to improve, social expectations influence how one treats and behaves toward those people, the way they are treated shape them into what is socially expected "Pygmalion in the Classroom"

experimenter effect

phenomenon in which researchers' hypotheses lead them to unintentionally bias the outcome of a study (Also called Self Fulfilling Prophecy)

Pygmalion in the Classroom

Teacher expectation and pupils' intellectual development (1968)- found out that when teachers expected students to succeed, the students indeed tended to improve. Vice-versa.

self-fulfilling prophecy

a situation in which a researcher's expectations influence that person's own behavior, and thereby influence the participant's behavior

Instrumental aggression

Cognition-based and goal-directed aggression carried out with premeditated thought, to achieve specific aims(One of the 2 Types of Aggression)

Hostile aggression

Behavior intended to harm another, either physically or psychologically, and motivated by feelings of anger and hostility (One of the 2 Types of Aggression)

Albert Bandura

Behaviorist/modern theorist who challenges Skinner saying he ignored the most distinctive and important feature of human behavior. He agrees that personality is shaped through learning but that observational learning through models is influential. (Bobo doll)

Bobo doll experiment

-children watched the actions of adults towards a doll and when in the same situation imitated the actions of the adult whom they watched-we choose to imitate people who we respect or like, people who are attractive or powerful, people of the same gender, people who are similar to us, people who's behavior leads to positive outcomes (Albert Bandura)

observational learning

change in behavior due to watching other people behave(Albert Bandura)

bystander intervention

a psychological phenomenon in which someone is less likely to intervene in an emergency situation when other people are present and able to help than when he or she is alone. Most Famous case is the Murder of Kitty Genovese

Kitty Genovese

In 1964 a young women was attacked outside her NY apartment late at night . Despite fighting and shouting for help. No one came to her rescue and she was murdered. At least 40 neighbors heard he screams for help but nobody came to her aid. No one even called the police. When interviewed later the neighbors stated they felt it was lovers quarrel or none of my business. They passed the buck so to speak. This process is called diffusion of responsibility. Also example of Bystander Effect and pluralistic ignorance

diffusion of responsibility

the tendency for individuals to feel diminished responsibility for their actions when they are surrounded by others who are acting the same way

pluralistic ignorance

A type of misunderstanding that occurs when members of a group don't realize that the other members share their perception (often, their uncertainty about how to react to a situation). As a result, each member wrongly interprets the others' inaction as reflecting their better understanding of the situation.

Similarity

a Getalt principle of organization holding that (other things being equal) parts of a stimulus field that are similar to each other tend to be perceived as belonging together as a unit

Similarity

extent to which we have things in common with others, a predictor of attraction

compassionate love

The intimacy and affection we feel when we care deeply for a person but do not experience passion or arousal in the persons presence

Passionate love

an aroused state of intense positive absorption in another, usually present at the beginning of a love relationship.

social facilitation

improved performance of tasks in the presence of others; occurs with simple or well-learned tasks but not with tasks that are difficult or not yet mastered

social impairment

lowering of performance on a given task in the pressence of others - usually a task that is not well reshearsed

confederate

a person who joins with another in carrying out some plan (especially an unethical or illegal plan)

obedience studies

- Studies that focus on participants' willingness to do what another asks them to do.- Milgram (1974) found that over 60 percent of participants obey experimenters' orders, even when the orders involve potentially hurting someone else.Participants' compliance is decreased when they are in close contact with those people whom they are being ordered to harm.- When the experimenter left in the middle of the experiment and was replaced by an assistant, obedience also decreased.- When other people were present in the room and they objected to the orders, the percentage of participants who quit in the middle of the experiment skyrocketed.- Milgram's research has been severely criticized on ethical grounds.

social loafing

the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable

Group polarization

tendency of group members to move to an extreme position after discussing an issue as a group

Concordance rate

the percentage of instances in which both members of a twin pair show a trait when it is present in one pair member, used to study the contribution of heredity to emotional and behavior disorders

Primary Punisher

A stimulus that is inherently punishing; an example is electric shock.

monism

the presumption that mind and body are different aspects of the same thing.

John Garcia

Researched taste aversion. Showed that when rats ate a novel substance before being nauseated by a drug or radiation, they developed a conditioned taste aversion for the substance.

ethnocentrism

The tendency to assume that one's own culture and way of life represent the norm or are superior to all others

Hans Eysenck

Psychology theorists who suggested that personality could be reduced to two polar dimensions introversion-extraversion and emotional instability-stability (neuroticism).

introversion

a personality trait that signifies that one finds energy from internal sources rather than external ones

extraversion

The tendency to experience positive emotions and moods and to feel good about oneself and the rest of the world.

neuroticism

one of the three underlying dimensions of personality in Eysenck's model, referring to tendencies toward emotional instability, anxiety, and worry

Psychologist that tested babies on their preference of attractive people compared to unattractive people, babies preferred attractive.

Karl Wernicke

German neurologist who discovered the part of the brain responsible for the comprehension of speech was ___.

Kenneth Clark

United States psychologist (born in Panama) whose research persuaded the Supreme Court that segregated schools were discriminatory , Used dolls to study children's attitude towards race. Their findings were used in the Brown vs. Board trial.

Stigmatization

Individuals who deviate from their ascribed categories and roles are excluded, humiliated, and ostracized.

Kurt Lewin

A German refugee who escaped Nazi oppression. He designed an experiment to investigate the effects of different leadership styles on group functions. He wanted to find out if people were more productive under 3 different styles 1. autocratic, 2. laizssez-faire, and 3. democratic. This is the study when he had children do activities under the 3 conditions. The democratic style proved to be the most productive as was expected

Leon Festinger

Kurt Lewin's student. Social psychologists who studie cognitive dissonance (tension when holding inconsistent ideas in mind). Had a case study of a housewife who thought she was getting alien messages.believed we change our attitudes so behavior is sensible and justified. Also found that the more difficult it is to join a group, the more that group is valued, so the pain of joining was worthwhile.

Little Albert

In which famous experiment did Watson condition a child to fear small white animals after pairing them with a loud bang? Showed Classical Conditioning.

Paul Ekman

Researcher who developed neuro-cultural theory which stated brain and culture effects emotions and the universality of the seven basic emotions

Robert Zajonc

Developed the mere exposure effect. It is possible to have preferences without interferences and to feel without knowing why.

Mere Exposure Effect

phenomenon in which repeated exposure to a stimulus makes us more likely to feel favorably toward it

Tolman

He believed learning happened regardless of reinforcement and normal learning produces a cognitive map of the environment, Studied a rat's tendency to learn the course of a maze over time. He came up with the idea of latent learning and cognitive maps.

Cognitive Maps

Psychological representations of locations that are created from people's individual ideas and impressions, mental representations that enable people to navigate from a starting point to an unseen destination (Tolman)

Latent Learning

learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it

Conformity

acting according to certain accepted standards

ADHD

A psychological disorder marked by the appearance by age 7 of one or more of three key symptoms: extreme inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity

Ritalin

Central nervous system stimulant (trade name Ritalin) used in the treatment of narcolepsy in adults and attention deficit disorder in children

Enuresis

inability to control the flow of urine and involuntary urination

Encopresis

involuntary defecation not attributable to physical defects or illness

Passive euthanasia

The deliberate disconnection of life support equipment, or cessation of any life-sustaining medical procedure, permitting the natural death of the patient.

Erik Erikson

Neo-Freudian, humanistic; 8 psychosocial stages of development: theory shows how people evolve through the life span. Each stage is marked by a psychological crisis that involves confronting "Who am I?"

Psychosocial Theory

A theory of psychological development that proposes that cognitive, emotional, and social growth are the result of the interaction between social expectations at each life stage and the competencies that people bring to each life challenge. (Erikson)

Ageism

discrimination against middle-aged and elderly people

Lawrence Kohlberg

Developmental psychologist who contends that moral thinking progresses through a series of stages: Preconventional, Conventional, Postconventional, by presenting boys moral dilemmas and studied their responses and reasoning processes in making moral decisions Most Famous is " Heinz"

Heinz

The case of this person was used by Kohlberg as a moral dilemma. He has an ill wife and cannot afford the medication. Should he steal the medication and why

James Coleman

Who suggested four areas to reform through which colloar crime might be effected. These four areas consisted of Ethical, Enforcement, Structural, and Polical. Social Capital.

Elkind

who developed the theory of:-adolescent egocentrism-imaginary audience-personal fable

adolescent egocentrism

A characteristic of adolescent thinking that sometimes leads to young people to focus on themselves to the exclusion of others and to believe, for example, that their thoughts, feelings and experiences are unique (Elkind)

imaginary audience

A cognitive distortion experienced by adolescents, in which they see themselves as always "on stage" with an audience watching (Elkind)

Personal fable

common belief among adolescents that their feelings and experiences cannot possibly be understood by others and that they are personally invulnerable to harm (Elkind)

status symbols

Signs that identify a status, such as uniforms or wedding rings (Elkind)

life-span psychology

the field of study that examines patterns of growth, change, and stability in behavior that occur throughout the entire life span.

Stuttering

serious speech difficulty that occurs when a person speaks with sporadic repetition or prolonged sounds. Damage to Broca Area

Broca Area

controls language expression - an area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech

Isolation

a defense mechanism in which memory of an unacceptable act or impulse is separated from the emotion originally associated with it

Maintains that there is no single correct way (nor timetable) by which a person progresses through the grief process

Social butterflies

someone who talks to a lot of people

Postconventional Level

Kohlberg's highest level of moral development, in which moral actions are judged on the basis of personal codes of ethics that are general and abstract and that may not agree with societal norms

Conventional Level

Stages 3 and 4 of Kohlberg's model of moral reasoning. Children see rules as necessary for maintaining social order; they internalize them to be considered virtuous and to win approval from authority figures.

Stagnation

a discontinuation of development and a desire to recapture the past

Cryonic suspension

Freezing deceased tisuues for revival in the future, or until a natural cure can be found.

Depression

the condition of feeling apathetic, hopeless, and withdrawn from others. When it is major it is an emotionally crippling depressed state linked to physical causes; it may be, at the extreme, a suicidal state.

Agitation

a violent stirring or movement; noisy confusion, excitement; a stirring up of public enthusiasm

Bereavement

state of sorrow over the death or departure of a loved one

behavior modification

changing one's choices or actions by manipulating the cues that trigger the actions, the actions themselves, or the consequences of the actions

Psychotherapy

an emotionally charged, confiding interaction between a trained therapist and someone who suffers from psychological difficulties

Autism

A disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by deficient communication, social interaction, and understanding of others' states of mind

Gilligan

Did moral development studies to follow up Kohlberg. She studied girls and women and found that they did not score as high on his six stage scale because they focused more on relationships rather than laws and principles. Different reasoning, not better or worse, also published "The Porcupine and the Moles"

Pica

compulsive eating of nonnutritive substances such as clay or ice; this condition is often a result of an iron deficiency

Gould

Studied people between the ages of 16-60, labeling the central theme for the adult years as transformation.

Levinson

Psychologist who did research on the supposed "mid-life crisis"; in general, 80% of any age group would describe themselves as "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with life. Theory base on organizing concept of individual life structure.

generativity

in Erikson's theory, a process of making a commitment beyond oneself ex:to family, work, or future generations

midlife transition

According to Levinson, a process whereby adults assess the past and formulate new goals for the future; taking stock of life

intimacy

in Erikson's theory, the ability to form close, loving relationships; a primary developmental task in late adolescence and early adulthood.

identity

one's sense of self; according to Erikson, the adolescent's task is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles

psychopathology

The branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders

initiative versus guilt.

In Erikson's theory, the psychological conflict of early childhood, which is resolved positively through play experiences that foster a healthy sense of initiative and through development of a superego, or conscience, that is not overly strict and guilt-ridden.

industry versus inferiority

The fourth of Erikson's eight psychosexual development crises, during which children attempt to master many skills, developing a sense of themselves as either industrious or inferior, competent or incompetent.

generativity versus stagnation

Erikson's seventh stage of psychosocial development, in which the middle-aged adult develops a concern with establishing, guiding, and influencing the next generation or else experiences stagnation (a sense of inactivity or lifelessness)

integrity versus despair

Erickson's final, eighth stage, where the person asks himself or herself: "After seventy, eighty, or ninety years of life, do I have anything of interest and value to say to the next generation? Or not?"

mechanical and meaningless repetition of the words of another person (as in schizophrenia, autism)

Schizophrenia

A group of severe disorders characterized by disorganized and delusional thinking, disturbed perceptions, and inappropriate emotions and actions. Is an example of a disease that is mutlifactorial. Treatment of this disease with antipsychotics and dopamine may lead to Tardive Dyskinesia

Puberty

the stage of development at which individuals become physiologically capable of reproducing

Dyslexia

word blindness; learning disorder marked by impairment of the ability to read

Climacteric

Physiological changes that occur during the transition period from fertility to infertility in both sexes

crystallized intelligence

one's accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age

fluid intelligence

One's ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood.

Nature vs. nurture

the long-standing controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors.

Nature

a person's inherited traits, determined by genetics

Nurture

the properties acquired as a consequence of the way you were treated as a child

Twins

two children born at the same time to the same parents, The best way to study the Nature vs. Nurture Debate in Developmental Psychology

cross-sectional

In this study data is collected on people of different ages at the same time, it can show similarities and differences among age groups. However it cannot establish age effects, makes individual differences

longitudinal

describes research that measures a trait in a particular group of subjects over a long period of time

Chromosomes

threadlike structures made of DNA molecules that contain the genes

DNA

a complex molecule containing the genetic information that makes up the chromosomes

Genes

the biochemical units of heredity that make up the chromosomes; a segment of DNA capable of synthesizing a protein

nucleotides

Basic units of DNA molecule, composed of a sugar, a phosphate, and one of 4 DNA bases

zygote

the cell resulting from the union of an ovum and a spermatozoon (including the organism that develops from that cell)

Fraternal Twins

twins who develop from separate fertilized eggs. They are genetically no closer than brothers and sisters, but they share a fetal environment.

Identical twins

twins who develop from a single fertilized egg that splits in two, creating two genetically identical organisms.

embryo

an animal organism in the early stages of growth and differentiation that in higher forms merge into fetal stages but in lower forms terminate in commencement of larval life

fetus

the developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth

Lungs

two spongy organs, located in the thoracic cavity enclosed by the diaphragm and rib cage, responsible for respiration, last to develop fully as a fetus

teratogens

Agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm. Can lead to FAS

FAS

fetal alcohol syndrome= caused by mothers who drink alcohol while being pregnant

A chromosomal trisomy in which males have an extra X chromosome resulting in an XXy condition; affected individuals typically have reduced fertility

Down's syndrome

is a chromosomal disorder caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 21st chromosome.. Often Down syndrome is associated with some impairment of cognitive ability and physical growth as well as facial appearance

Rooting Reflex

a baby's tendency, when touched on the cheek, to turn toward the touch, open the mouth, and search for the nipple

Sucking Reflex

Reflex that causes a newborn to make sucking motions when a finger or nipple if placed in the mouth

Grasping Reflex

Reflex that causes a newborn to grasp vigorously any object touching the palm or fingers or placed in the hand

Moro Reflex

infant startle response to sudden, intense noise or movement. When startled the newborn arches its back, throws back its head, and flings out its arms and legs.

Babinski Reflex

reflexive fanning out and curling of an infant's toes and inward twisting of its foot when the sole of the foot is stroked

Is any of those anatomical parts of the body which are involved in sexual reproduction and constitute the reproductive system in a complex organism

Secondary Sexual Characteristics

Characteristics that develop during puberty that are not directly associated with reproduction, such as pubic hair and growth spurts.

Menarche

Beginning of menstrual function, FIRST PERIOD

Alzheimer's Disease

an irreversible, progressive brain disorder, characterized by the deterioration of memory, language, and eventually, physical functioning, Causing apoptosis of the hippocampal and cortical neurons associated with neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid plaque

Parkinson's Disease

A motor disorder characterized by difficulty in initiating movements, slowness, and rigidity, masked facial expressions, muscle tremors, poor balance, and a shuffling gait.Also increases with the onset of old age, the symptoms of the disease result from the neurons in the midbrain nucleus called the substantia nigra which (normally release dopamine), and the buildup of protein aggregates containing a-synuclein

Tay- Sachs disease

A human genetic disease caused by a RECCESIVE allele for a dysfunctional enzyme (lysosomes) , leading to accumulation of certain lipids in the brain. Seizures, blindness, and degeneration of motor and mental performance usually become manifest a few months after birth. Very Rare

ALS

"Lou Gherig's Disease" - progressive neurological disease in which the motor neurons degenerate to the point of total loss of motor function. The intelligence, memory, and personality is unaffected. Stephen Hawking has this.

Beta Amyloid plaques

Structural change in the cerebral cortex associated with Alzheimer's Disease, in which dense deposits of a deteriorated protein called amyloid develop, surrounded by clumps of dead nerve and glial cells, also called senile plaques, they seem to trigger the death of surrounding neurons.

L-dopa

Parent molecule for dopamine and is given to parkinson's disease patient as dopamine cannot cross the blood brain barrier while this parent molecule can cross

Bipolar Disorder

A mood disorder in which the person alternates between the hopelessness and lethargy of depression and the overexcited state of mania. (Formerly called manic-depressive disorder.)

Critical Periods

times during which certain environmental influences can have an impact on the development of the infant

attachment

an emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation

Konrad Lorenz

Austrian zoologist and ethologist who studied the behavior of birds and emphasized the importance of innate as opposed to learned behaviors

Harry Harlow

A Psychologist who specialized in higher animal development, contact comfort, attachment; experimented with baby rhesus monkeys and presented them with cloth or wire "mothers;" showed that the monkeys became attached to the cloth mothers because of (contact comfort)

Used to study parenting styles and infants' reactions to these styles. It tests the reactions of toddlers to a period of temporary absence on the part of the caregiver, during which the child is left alone with a stranger. The study has frequently been replicated. (Mary Ainsworth) Also called Ainsworth's Stranger Paradigm

Secure Attachments

66%; constantly explored when parent was present; distressed when they left and came to parents when they returned

Avoidant Attachments

Infants may resist being held by the parents and will explore the novel environment. They do not go to the parents for comfort when they return after and absence (21%)

Anxious/Ambivalent Attachment

Attachment style in which infants become extremely upset when their caregiver leaves but reject the caregiver when he or she returns (12%)

Stranger anxiety

The fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months of age. Makes sense from an evolutionary standpoint because that is when babies start to become more mobile.

Authoritarian Parents

Parents who make arbitrary rules, expect unquestioned obedience from their children, punish misbehavior, and value obedience to authority

Permissive Parents

Parenting style consisting of very few rules and allowing children to make most decisions and control their own behavior.

Authoritative Parents

Parents who set high but realistic and reasonable standards, enforce limits, and encourage open communication and independence

continuity vs discontinuity

Focus is on whether developmental change is smooth and constant or choppy through stages (For Some reason it is a GREAT Controversy)

psychosexual stages

The 5 childhood stages of development (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital) during which, according to Freud, the id's pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones.

Freud's first stage of personality development, from birth to about age 2, during which the instincts of infants are focused on the mouth as the primary pleasure center.

Anal Stage

Freud's second stage of psychosexual development where the primary sexual focus is on the elimination or holding onto feces. The stage is often thought of as representing a child's ability to control his or her own world.

Phallic Stage

Third stage of psychosexual development, marked by erotic attention on the phallic region and the development of the Oedipus complex(males) and Electra Complex(Girls)

Oedipus Complex

According to Freud, a boy's sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father

Electra Complex

A pattern described by Freud in which a young girl develops an attachment to her father and competes with her mother for his attention.

penis envy

In Psychoanalytic Thought, the desire of girls to posses a penis and therefore have the power that being male represents.

Latency Stage

Freud's fourth stage of psychosexual development where sexuality is repressed in the unconscious and children focus on identifying with their same sex parent and interact with same sex peers. 5 - Puberty. Think COOTIES

Genital Stage

Freud's last stage of personality development, from the onset of puberty through adulthood, during which the sexual conflicts of childhood resurface (at puberty) and are often resolved during adolescence).

anal expulsive character

Character type that results from a fixation at the early anal stage. Person may be overly generous or has trouble with bowel control

anal retentive character

Character type that results from a fixation at the late anal stage. Such a person may suffer from constipation or may be stingy.

cognition

all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

Jean Piaget

Four stage theory of cognitive development: 1. sensorimotor, 2. preoperational, 3. concrete operational, and 4. formal operational. He said that the two basic processes work in tandem to achieve cognitive growth-assimilation and accomodation

schemas

According to Jean Piaget , cognitive structures that influence how information from the environment is perceived, stored, and remembered

Assimilation

Interpreting one's new experience in terms of one's existing schemas.

accommodation

in the theories of Jean Piaget: the modification of internal representations in order to accommodate a changing knowledge of reality

stage theorists

At every stage, something needs to happen, then they can move onto the next stage Erikson(Social) , Piaget(Cognitive),Freud(Social), Kolberg(Moral), Havighurst)

Sensorimotor Stage

In Piaget's theory, the stage (from birth to about 2 years of age) during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities.

Preoperational Stage

in Piaget's theory, the stage (from about 2 to 6 or 7 years of age) during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic ordo NOT yet understand the concepts of conservation in this stage (that is that objects remain the same even when their shapes change).

concepts of conservation

These concepts demonstrate how the different aspect of objects are conserved even when their arrangement changes. 3 main (volume, area and number)

Concrete Operational Stage

In Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (from about 6 or 7 to 11 years of age) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events and the concepts of conservation.

Formal Operational Stage

In Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about age 12) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts(Like the manipulation of things that you have never actually seen. Not all people actually reach this stage. Einstein probably was the God of this Stage.Metacognition reached.

Metacognition

"Thinking about thinking" or the ability to evaluate a cognitive task to determine how best to accomplish it, and then to monitor and adjust one's performance on that task. Reached during the Formal Operational Stage.

Information-processing model.

A model of memory in which information must pass through discrete stages via the processes of attention, encoding, storage, and retrieval

Lawrence Kohlberg

Moral development; presented boys moral dilemmas and studied their responses and reasoning processes in making moral decisions. Most famous moral dilemma is "Heinz" who has an ill wife and cannot afford the medication. Should he steal the medication and why?

Heinz Dilemma

A woman is dying and needs an expensive medication. Husband cannot afford the medication, should he steal it or should she die?

universal ethical principles

the sixth and highest stage in Kohlberg's theory of moral development

Social Learning Theory

the theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished.

Corpus callosums

Large band of white neural fibers that connects to to brain hemispheres and carries messages between them; myelinated; involved in intelligence, consciousness, and self-awareness; does it reach full maturity until 20s (Very Important because it is LARGER in GIRLS than in Guys). An Important factor in differential Gender Development

Gender Schema Theory

The theory that children learn from their cultures a concept of what it means to be male and female and that they adjust their behavior accordingly.

Cerebral cortex

the intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells that covers the cerebral hemispheres; the body's ultimate control and information-processing center

Retroactive interference

Situation in which information learned more recently hinders the recall of information learned previously

Proactive interference

situation in which Previously learned information hinders the recall of information learned more recently

Echo

a mental representation of an auditory stimulus (sound) that is held briefly in sensory memory

Are memories of skills, preferences and dispositions. These memories are evidently processed, not by the hippocampus, but by a more primitive part of the brain, the cerebellum. They are also called procedural or nondeclarative memories.

Illusion

The condition of being deceived by a false perception or belief

Context dependent

memory, the environment acts as a retrieval cue. This means that it is easier to remember information when you are in the location (context) where you originally learned that information.

Eidetic imagery

A form of memory, often called photographic memory, which consists of especially vivid visual recollections of material.

Redintegration

the phenomenon of a sense cueing a memory

Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon

Condition of being almost, but not quite, able to remember something; used to investigate the nature of semantic memory

Semantic memory

The part of declarative memory that stores general information such as names and facts.

Elaborative rehearsal

a memorization method that involves thinking about how new information relates to information already stored in long-term memory

Maintenance rehearsal

a system for remembering involving repeating information to oneself without attempting to find meaning in it

Dual memory

Theory suggesting that information coded both visually and verbally is remembered better than information coded in only one of those two ways.

Retroactive inhibition

decreased ability to recall previously learned information, caused by learning of new information

engram

The physical changes in the brain associated with a memory. It is also known as the memory trace

Reminiscence

the process of remembering (especially the process of recovering information by mental effort)

Hippocampus

a neural center located in the limbic system that helps process explicit memories for storage

Retrieval

the cognitive operation of accessing information in memory

Encoding

the processing of information into the memory system--for example, by extracting meaning

Decay theory of memory

loss of memory due to the passage of time, during which the memory trace is not used.

Working memory

A newer understanding of short-term memory that involves conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory.

Selective attention

this term describes the situation when you are focused on certain stimuli in the environment while other stimuli are excluded (Cocktail Party Effect)

overlearning

A technique used to improve memory where information is learned to the point that it can be repeated without mistake more than one time.

Encoding failure

the inability to recall specific information because of insufficient encoding of the information for storage in long-term memory

Decay

Theory which states that memory fades and/or disappears over time if it is not used or accessed.

Disuse

another name for decay, assuming that memories that are not used will eventually decay and disappear

hypnosis

a social interaction in which one person suggests to another that certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts, or behaviors will spontaneously occur

The conscious use of an idea or object to represent another actual event or object; often, the meaning is not clear because the symbol may be representative of something unconscious.

Categorization

a cognitive process used to organize information by placing it into larger groupings of information

thalamus

the brain's sensory switchboard, located on top of the brainstem; it directs messages to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla

Short Term Memory

The memory stage with a small capacity (7 +- 2 chunks) and brief duration (< 30 seconds) that we are consciously aware of and in which we do our problem solving, reasoning and decision making.

Long Term Memory

the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences

Serial position effect

Tendency for items at the beginning and end of a list to be learned better than items in the middle

Age regression

During hypnosis, a hypnotized person is given suggestions to re-experience an event that occurred at an earlier age and to act like and feel like a person of that particular age.

Suggestion

the sequential mental process in which one thought leads to another by association

retrograde amnesia

loss of memory for events that occurred before the onset of amnesia; eg a soldier's forgetting events immediately before a shell burst nearby, injuring him

Ebbinghaus

Studied memory using nonsense syllables and the method of savings, created the "Forgetting Curve".

Forgetting Curve

The graphic pattern representing the relationship between measures of learning and the length of the retention interval: As the retention interval gets longer, memory decreases. (Ebbinghaus)

Loftus

Person who studied false memories (confabulations) and impact on eyewitness testimony; and the effects of leading questions, Conclusion was that memories had to be validated by physical evidence.

Confabulations

An attempt to fill in the gap of memories where no memories actually exist

Korsakoff

Brain damage to the mammillary bodies resulting in anterograde amnesia, caused by a lack of vitamin B1 thiamine in the brain, typically the result of severe alcoholism

anterograde amnesia

loss of memory for events that occur after the onset of the amnesia; eg, see in a boxer who suffers a severe blow to the head and loses memory for events after the blow

Amnesia

Loss of memory that occurs as a result of physical or psychological trauma

Luria

Studied how brain damage leads to impairment in sensory, motor, and language functions, also studied eidetikers ,and developed a Probability Distribution scheme for localizing cortical areas responsible for language systems

Eidetikers

someone who has a photographic memory

Reconstruction

recall that is hypothesized to work by storing abstract features which are then used to construct the memory during recall

Constructive processing

Re-organizing or updating memories on the basis of logic, reasoning, or the addition of new information

Remembering

Being able to retain information and recall it when needed

"Flashbulb" memories

detailed memory for events surrounding a dramatic event that is vivid and remembered with confidence

positive transfer

The process of one skill helping the learning and performance of a separate but similar skill

Serotonin

a neurotransmitter that affects hunger,sleep,arousal,and mood. appears in lower than normal levels in depressed persons

ACTH

Adrenocorticotropic hormone, produced by the anterior pituitary gland that stimulates the adrenal cortex regulates the production of cortisol(steriod hormone) from anterior pituitary

Parietal lobe

portion posterior to the frontal lobe, responsible for sensations such as pain, temperature, and touch

medulla

the base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing

displacement

psychoanalytic defense mechanism that shifts sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person, as when redirecting anger toward a safer outlet

retention

The length of time records must be retained and proper disposition of them when they should no longer be stored.

Myelin Sheath

a layer of fatty tissue segmentally encasing the fibers of many neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed of neural impulses as the impulse hops from one node to the next, also called Schwann cells in PNS and Oligodendrocytes in CNS

Memory

the persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information

storage failure

Poor durability of certain stored memories which leads to forgetting

retrieval failure

the inability to recall long-term memories because of inadequate or missing retrieval cues

Three-Box Model

A model that says that info that does not transfer out of the sensory register or short term memory is assumed to be forgotten forever. once in along term memory, info can be retrieved for use in analyzing incoming sensory information or performing mental operations in short term memory

Sensory memory

Very brief (0.5 to 1.0 second for visual stimuli and 2 to 3 seconds for auditory stimuli) but extensive memory for sensory events

George Sterling

A Psychologist that demonstrated that sensory memory exists, and that it only lasts a split second. He flashed a grid of nine letters, three rows and three columns, to participants for 1/20 of a second. The participants in the study were directed to recall either the top, middle or bottom row immediately after the grid was flashed to them (Using a low, medium or high tone to indicate which row they should recall). The participants could recall any of the three rows perfectly. This experiment demonstrated that the entire grid must be held in the sensory memory for a split second. Also Ionic Memory

iconic memory

a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic or picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second

echoic memory

A momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds.

A view stating that how well something is remembered depends on the degree to which incoming information is mentally processed

Mood congruent theory

the idea that you are more likely to recall an item if you are in the same mood when you encoded the item (if you are in a happy mood then you remember happy events).

state dependent memory

Long-term memory retrieval is best when a person's physiological state at the time of encoding and retrieval of the information is the same.

relearning effect

it will take less time to relearn material we previously encoded, even if we have "forgotten" what we learned previously

long-term potentiation

an increase in a synapse's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation. Believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory

Test Anxiety

a combination of physiological, emotional, and cognitive components that are caused by the stress of taking exams and that may interfere with one's ability to think, reason, and plan,Yerkes-Dodson Law says it is not necessary to get rid of all this anxiety to do well on a test.

Bulimia Nervosa

an eating disorder characterized by episodes of overeating, usually of high-calorie foods, followed by vomiting, laxative use, fasting, or excessive exercise

College professor at Indiana University, Bloomington, author of "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male" and "Sexual Behavior in the Human Female;" collectively known as the Kinsey Report; report was controversial and inflammatory but well-received and immensely popular. Factored in the spurring of research for birth control. Took a sample of 10,000 men, data said that sexual orientation was diverse and many were bisexual. Had actually studied the genealogy of flies before this.

Anorexia

self starvation, a refusal to maintain minimum body weight

Exhaustion

The harmful third stage of the general adaptation syndrome(GAS) , stress exceeds body's ability to recover.The parasympathetic nervous system returns our physiological state to normal., If the crises is not resolved, resources become depleted, immunity drops, sometimes causing illnesses, ulcers, depression, or death

Yerkes-Dodson Law.

Evidences arousal theory; the more complex a task, the lower level of arousal that can be tolerated without interference before the performance deteriorates; ex. used in class-driving to school, driving angry, finding a new location, boiling an egg

Arousal Theory

A theory of motivation suggesting that people are motivated to maintain an optimal level of alertness and physical and mental activation.

Habituation

Decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a visual stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner (Being abnormally tolerant to and dependent on something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming)

Perfectionism

An unhealthy compulsion to do things perfectly is called:

Biorhythms

An innate periodicity in an organism's physiological processes, as sleep and wake cycles.

Cannon-Bard theory

the theory that an emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers (1) physiological responses and (2) the subjective experience of emotion, or a theory about the relationship between emotional experience and physiological activity suggesting that a stimulus simultaneously triggers activity in the autonomic nervous system and emotional experience in the brain

Amygdala

Two almond-shaped neural clusters that are components of the limbic system and are linked to EMOTION

Lateral hypothalamus

The part of the hypothalamus that produces hunger signals, if destroyed an animal may starve to death.

Kinesics

The study of communication through body movements, stances, gestures, and facial expressions

Stimulus motives

Motives that cause humans and other animals to increase stimulation when the level of arousal is too low (examples are curiosity and the motive to explore).

Polygraph Test

Test that measures respiration, blood pressure, and perspiration while person is asked a series of questions; outcome is a diagnostic opinion about honesty. (Criticised as Pseudoscience)

Ventromedial hypothalamus

The part of the hypothalamus that produces feelings of fullness as opposed to hunger, and causes one to stop eating. If destroyed an animal will become obese.

Intrinsic motivation

Engaging in activities because they are personally rewarding or because they fulfill our beliefs and expectations

Adrenaline

A catecholamine secreted by the adrenal medulla in response to stress (trade name Adrenalin)

Catecholamine

any of a group of chemicals including epinephrine(adrenaline) and norepinephrine that are produced in the medulla of the adrenal gland

Cortisone

glucocorticoid hormone that is isolated from the adrenal cortex; used as an anti-inflammatory agent

Endorphins

natural, opiatelike neurotransmitters linked to pain control and to pleasure

Specific hunger

A craving for a particular substance such as a salt.

Reinforcement

A stimulus that strengthens or weakens the behavior that produced it

Behavioral Response

The actions taken in response to stress

Episodic

occurring or appearing at usually irregular intervals

Taste aversions

the intense dislike and/or avoidance of particular foods that have been associated with nausea or discomfort, Type of Classical Conditiong

Homeostasis

metabolic equilibrium actively maintained by several complex biological mechanisms that operate via the autonomic nervous system to offset disrupting changes

Meta-needs

also called growth motives or being values; self-actualization is growth motivated; these are the motivations of self-actualizing people

Primary motives

Biological needs that must be met for survival: hunger, sleep, thirst, pain.

secondary motives

Motives based on learned needs, drives, and goals

Limbic System

A doughnut-shaped system of neural structures at the border of the brainstem and cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions such as fear and aggression and drives such as those for food and sex. Includes the hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus.

Attribution

The process of explaining the causes of people's behavior, including our own

Deception.

in research, an effect by which participants are misinformed or misled about the study's methods and purposes

Control questions

Non-threatening questions used on people when attached to a polygraph to establish baseline levels of arousal ( Like have you ever been tempted to steal?)

Irrelevant Questions

In a polygraph test random questions used for truth testing, Like (Is you Name Julius?)

Relevant questions

The questions asked by the polygraph operator during the lie-detection procedure that directly relate to the investigation or the reason for undergoing the test.

Guilty Knowledge Test

alternative to the polygraph test often used after the test is a complete failure, that relies on the premise that criminals harbor concealed knowledge about the crime that innocent people don't

Response

a bodily process occurring due to the effect of some foregoing stimulus or agent

Ecological fallacy

The fallacy of deducing a false relationship between the attributes or behavior of individuals based on observing that relationship for groups to which the individuals belong (Stereotypes)

Prejudice

a negative attitude formed toward an individual or group without sufficient experience with the person or group (Different from a Stereotype)

Archetype

the original pattern or model; a perfect example

Cognitive behavioral therapy

Treatment involving the combination of behaviorism (based on the theories of learning) and cognitive therapy (based on the theory that our cognitions or thoughts control a large portion of our behaviors). (CBT)

Stereotype

A fixed idea or conception of a character or an idea which does not allow for any individuality, often based on religious, social, or racial prejudices.

Ego Dystonic

Refers to thoughts and behaviors which are in conflict with how someone sees their ideal self. These people are motivated to seek treatment themselves.

Exposure and response prevention

a behavioral treatment for OCD that exposes a client to anxiety-arousing thoughts or situations and then prevents the client from performing his or her compulsive acts. AKA exposure and ritual prevention

Common sense theory

idea held by most people that a stimulus leads to the subjective experience of an emotion which then triggers a physiological response

Drive reduction theory

theory that claims that behavior is driven by a desire to lessen internal states of tension resulting from needs that disrupt homeostasis

Unlearned motive, such as curiosity or contact, that prompts us to explore or change the world around us

Coolidge effect

if animal is presented with a normal partner they will engage in sexual behaviour even when they have been just previously sexually satiated with another partner

James-Lange theory

the theory that our experience of emotion is our awareness of our physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli.

Somatic Nervous System

the division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the body's skeletal muscles. Also called the skeletal nervous system

Parasympathetic Nervous System

division of the ANS that is most active in ordinary conditions; it counterbalances the effects of the sympathetic system by restoring the body to a restful state after a stressful experience

inverted-U function

describes the relationship between arousal and performance. Both low and high levels of arousal produce lower performance than does a moderate level of arousal

Pituitary gland.

the endocrine system's most influential gland. Under the influence of the hypothalamus, this gland regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands

Hypothalamus

a neural structure lying below the thalamus; directs eating, drinking, body temperature; helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland, and is linked to emotion

Extrinsic motivation

motivation reflecting a desire for external rewards, such as wealth or the respect of others

Hypoglycemia

abnormally low blood sugar usually resulting from excessive insulin or a poor diet

Sex Drive

refers to the strength of one's motivation to engage in sexual behavior

Instinct Theory

the now-outmoded view that certain behaviors are completely determined by innate factors ex:instincts

Incentive Theory

According to this theory, behavior is goal-directed; we behave in ways that allow us to attain desirable stimuli and avoid negative stimuli

Incentives

a positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior

Set-point theory

1. Human bodies are programmed to maintain weight.

2. The lateral(hungry) and ventromedial hypothalamus(full) acts to cancel each other out.

3. Our fatty cells have a set-point they want to maintain4. Heredity influences set points and therefore, body type also5. If weight is lost, food intake is increased and energy expenditure(metabolism) decreases or vice versa.

sexual response cycle

the four stages of sexual responding described by William Masters and Virgina Johnson 1. excitement, 2. plateau, 3. orgasm, and 4. resolution.

Masters and Johnson

Among the first to use laboratory experimentation and observation to study the sexual response cycle (1950s-60s); levels include excitement, plateau, orgasm, resolution.brought hundreds of volunteers into their lab and observed them having various types of sex. They used tools to measure penile length and blood flow and vaginal expansion and lubrication. They perform thousands of trials and their results over a twenty year period were extensive. They even tried to "cure" homosexuality and claimed a 30% failure rate.

the second phase of the sexual response cycle, during which physical arousal continues to increase as the partners bodies prepare for orgasm

Orgasm

3rd phase of sexual response cycle. The highest point of sexual excitement, marked by strong feelings of pleasure

Resolution phase

the fourth phase of the sexual response cycle, following orgasm, during which the body returns to its resting, or normal state. However ONLY the MALE enters the refractory period.

refractory period

a resting period after orgasm, during which a man cannot achieve another orgasm.

Simon LeVay

Psychologist who wrote Sexual Brain and Queer Science, completed research on the DNA and finding a gay gene, he found the gene INAH3 was more than twice as large in heterosexual men as in homosexual men, and also discovered that part of hypothalamus is larger in straight men than in gay men and women.

achievement motivation

a desire for significant accomplishment: for mastery of things, people, or ideas; for attaining a high standard (Like taking an AP TEST).

Organizational psychologists

Psychologists who study various aspects of the human work environment, such as communication among employees, socialization or enculturation of workers, leadership, job satisfaction, stress and burnout, and overall quality of life. Two main theoories: Theory X and Theory Y

Theory X

assumes that the average person dislikes work and will avoid it if possible. therefore, people must be forced, controlled, and threatened with punishment to accomplish organizational goals

Theory Y

Assumes that, given a challenge and freedom, workers are motivated to achieve self-esteem and to demonstrate their competence and creativity

Multiple approach-avoidance conflicts

MORE than two goals to options( have both positive and negative aspects) to consider, making the decision even more difficult and stressful (i.e. college students deciding on a career)

Approach-avoidance

psychological conflict that occurs when a person must choose ONE goal that has both attractive and unattractive features

Avoidance-avoidance conflict

A conflict arising from having to choose between undesirable alternatives. (Like Raising Taxes or Reducing Spending).

Approach-approach conflict

A conflict arising from having to choose between equally desirable alternatives.

Two-Factor Theory of Emotion

Schachter and Singer's theory that emotion is the interaction of physiological arousal and the cognitive label that we apply to explain the arousal

Schachter and Singer

Experiment with humans where they are injected with adrenaline and either told there will be no symptoms, wrong symptoms or told the exact symptoms. Supports ____________'s two factor model of emotion

Type A Personality

A theory used to describe a person with a significant number of traits focused on urgency, impatience, success, and excessive competition. Higher Risk for Coronary Heart Disease.

Type B Personality

A theory used to describe person with a significant number of traits focused on relaxation, lack of urgency, and normal or reduced competition.

Type AB Personality

Mixture of Type A and Type B Personalities.

Rahe and Holmes

2 Psychologist that came up with a test that measures stress in your lives. The test is called the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS) and measures stress using life-change units (LCUs).

Social Readjustment Rating Scale

Thomas homes and richard rahe created this scale measuring the stress rating of certain life changing events by using life changing Units (LCUs), whether good or bad. 150 or more units and you were having a stressful year. Not very accurate. (SRRS)

life-change units

in stress research, the measure of the stress levels of different types of change experienced during a given period.Abreviated (LCUs) Made by (Thomas Holmes and richard rahe)

General Adaptation Syndrome

Seylye's concept of the body's adaptive response to stress in three stages--alarm, resistance, exhaustion (GAS)

Hans Seyle

The father of "modern stress theory." Defined eustress and distress. Stated that stress is a mutual action of forces in the body.General Adaptation Syndrome

Eustress

A positive stress that energizes a person and helps a person reach a goal

distress

Stress that stems from acute anxiety or pressure

Alarm reaction

First stage of the general adaptation syndrome(GAS) , involving mobilization of the body's resurces to cope with an immediate stressor. (Hans Seyle)

Resistance

The second phase of the general adaptation syndrome (GAS) , in which the body mobilizes its resources(hormones, energy) to withstand the effects of the stress. If this stage goes to long a body can deplete its resources. (Hans Seyle)

Sigmund Freud

Austrian neurologist who originated psychoanalysis (1856-1939); Said that human behavior is irrational; behavior is the outcome of conflict between the id (irrational unconscious driven by sexual, aggressive, and pleasure-seeking desires) and ego (rationalizing conscious, what one can do) and superego (ingrained moral values, what one should do).

Abraham Maslow

Humanistic psychologist who developed a theory of motivation that emphasized psychological (Hierarchy of Needs)-needs at a lower level dominate an individual's motivation as long as they are unsatisfied; self-actualization, transcendence

Ivan Pavlov

A Russian researcher in the early 1900s who was the first research into learned behavior (conditioning) and who discovered classical(Pavlovian) conditioning by; training dogs to salivate at the ringing of a bell

Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow's pyramid of human needs, beginning at the base with physiological needs that must first be satisfied before higher-level safety needs and then psychological needs become active.

According to Maslow, the ultimate psychological need that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to fulfill one's potential

Psychodynamic

Characterized by conflict among instincts, reason, and conscience; describes the mental processes envisioned in Freudian theory

Freudian theory

Psychoanalysis; emphasizes unconscious determinants of behavior, sexual and aggressive instinctual drives, and the enduring effects of early childhood experiences on later personality development

Psychoanalysis

Freud's theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions

Abnormal Psychology

The field of psychology concerned with the assessment, treatment, and prevention of maladaptive behavior.

Behaviorism

the view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental processes

Humanism

A theoretical orientation that emphasizes the unique qualities of humans, especially their freedom and their potential for personal growth

John B. Watson

American psychologist who founded behaviorism, emphasizing the study of observable behavior and rejecting the study of mental processes

William James

Founder of functionalism and also wrote Principles of Psychology; studied how humans use perception to function in our environment; important emotion theory, also involved in: Pragmatism, and The Meaning of Truth

Principles of Psychology

1890, considered to be the first modern psychology textbook by William James

Functionalism

William James's school of thought that stressed the adaptive and survival value of behaviors

James - Lange theory

the theory that our experience of emotion is our awareness of our physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli.

The Will to Believe Doctrine

A lecture delivered by William James, and first published in 1896, which defended our right, in certain cases, to adopt a belief on faith even without prior evidence of its truth,In virtue of this dependency of truth on belief ,it argues that it can be rational for us to have faith in our own ability to accomplish tasks that require confidence even if at the time we lack sufficient evidence for whether we truly possess that ability.

Radical Empiricism

pragmatist doctrine put forth by William James. James' factual statement is that our experience isn't just a stream of data, it's a complex process that's full of meaning. We see objects in terms of what they mean to us and we see causal connections between phenomena

Psychologist's fallacy

A fallacy that where someone confuses his own standpoint with that of the mental fact about which he is making his report

Carl Rogers

A humanist who revolutionized therapy with his book, Client-Centered Therapy in 1951; furthered humanistic theory. Also developed the theory of unconditional positive regard

Unconditional positive regard

According to Carl Rogers, an attitude of total acceptance toward another person.

Comparative psychology

Branch of psychology that studies the behavior of different animal species

Søren Kierkegaard

Danish philosopher, founder of existentianalism, said "truth is subjectivity", religion is a personal matter, and relationships with God require suffering, wrote "Either/Or", The Sickness Unto Death"

Gestalt school

Unlike Structuralism this school prefers to look at the whole rather than small parts of the thing in order to comprehend it (The sum is greater than the parts).

Structuralism

A school of psychology based on the notion that the task of psychology is to analyze consciousness into its BASIC elements and to investigate how these elements are related. Differed from the Gestalt School Approach.

Classical Conditioning

a type of learning in which an organism comes to associate stimuli. A neutral stimulus that signals an unconditioned stimulus (US) begins to produce a response that anticipates and prepares for the unconditioned stimulus. Also called Pavlovian or respondent conditioning.

Operant Conditioning

a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher (B. F. Skinner)

Conditioning

a learning process in which an organism's behavior becomes dependent on the occurrence of a stimulus in its environment

B. F. Skinner

Pioneer of operant conditioning who believed that everything we do is determined by our past history of rewards and punishments. He is famous for use of his operant conditioning aparatus which he used to study schedules of reinforcement on pigeons and rats.

Max Wertheimer

Founder of Gestalt who studied "phi phenomenon." Believed that some complex perceptions cannot be reduced to simpler sensory experiences and that the mind operated on general organizing principles to perceive some complex sensory stimuli based on properties like proximity, similarity and closure

John Watson

Early behaviorist; emphasis on external behaviors of people and their reactions on a given situation; famous for Little Albert study in which baby was taught to fear a white rat, also used generalization-inductive reasoning.

Phi phenomenon

An illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in succession. Studied by Max Wertheimer.

Little Albert Study

A study by John Watson and his wife Rosalie Rayner, Lttle albert associated loud noise with a white rat, he began to become afraid of it, and he was never unconditioned

Social Psychology

the branch of psychology that studies persons and their relationships with others and with groups and with society as a whole

Developmental Psychology

a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span

Cognitive Psychology

the scientific study of mental processes, including perception, thought, memory, and reasoning

Cultural Psychology

A psychology that is concerned with how the culture in which an individual lives -- its traditions, language, and worldview -- influences that person's mental representations and psychological processes.

Psychology

the scientific study of mental processes and behavior

Super Ego

Part of personality that represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgement and future aspirations (Works on Moral Principle_

Behavior that can be subjectively perceived only by the person performing the behavior. Thoughts and feelings for example.

Overt Behavior

Behavior that has the potential for being directly observed by an individual other than the one performing the behavior.

Strict behaviorism

The view that only overt behavior can be studied scientifically.

Peer influence

caused by attempting to fit into a group by conforming, learning to cooperate with others to gain popularity,

Learning Psychology

Emphasizes the effects of behavior on past experiences. Think AFTER the fact.

Behavior modification

Method of changing abnormal behavior thru systematic program based on the learning principles of CLASSICAL conditioning, OPERANT Conditioning, or OBSERVATIONAL Learning.

Observational Learning

A type of learning that occurs when an organism's responding is influenced by the observation of others, who are called models

Titchener

British psychologist who studied with Wundt; opened laboratory at Cornell; focused on identifying the basic elements of consciousness (Structuralism) rather than the relationship between them

Wundt

first true psychologist, all of nature including mind could be studied scientifically, introspection, methodology, beginnings of structuralism, many books=influential, trained many others (baldwin, titchener), "Principles of physiological psych"=first textbook on psych

Ego

the largely conscious, "executive" part of personality that, according to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality. The ego operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id's desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain

APA

American Psychology Association

Eclectic approach

An approach to psychotherapy that, depending on the client's problems, uses techniques from various forms of therapy.

Repression

A classical defense mechanism that protects you from impulses or ideas that would cause anxiety by preventing them from becoming conscious

Common sense approach

when presented a stimulus, ou experience the conscious feeling of arousal, followed by he actual physical, autonomic arousal

Behavior

the aggregate of the responses or reactions or movements made by an organism in any situation

Perception

the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events

Sensation

the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment.

Existentialism

A label for widely different revolts against traditional philosophy, stressing choice, freedom, decision, and anguish, and emerging strongly during and after the World War II years.

Social-Cultural Psychology

Field of Psychology that deals with the influence of socialization of enculturation on behaviors which shape movements of a group based of cultural mores.

reaction formation

a defense mechanism in which a person unconsciously develops attitudes and behavior that are the opposite of unacceptable repressed desires and impulses and serve to conceal them

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